The average Canadian household throws out $1,300 worth of food every year. A big chunk of that waste starts in the fridge — forgotten leftovers, mystery containers, and produce that silently expires behind the milk.
Spring is a natural reset point. Use it to clear the clutter, reset your habits, and set yourself up for a lower-waste season.
Why Spring Is Perfect for a Fridge Reset
As the weather changes, so does what we eat. Heavy soups and stews give way to salads and lighter meals. That seasonal shift is the perfect moment to audit what's inside your fridge before it quietly goes bad.
A clean slate also makes tracking easier. When you know exactly what you have, you plan better, shop smarter, and waste less.
Step-by-Step: The 20-Minute Clean-Out
Take everything out. Yes, everything. Wipe down shelves and drawers with a damp cloth and a splash of white vinegar.
Sort items into three piles: keep (still good), use soon (expiring within a week), and discard (mold, off-smells, or clearly expired). Be honest — giving something the benefit of the doubt rarely works out.
Return items to the fridge intentionally. Put "use soon" items at eye level and at the front of shelves. Store raw proteins on the bottom shelf to prevent cross-contamination. Keep produce in humidity-controlled drawers.
Take a photo of your full, organized fridge before closing the door. That photo becomes your inventory starting point.
Reading Dates the Right Way
Not everything that reads "expired" is actually unsafe. There are three labels you'll see, and they mean very different things.
Best Before is about quality, not safety. Yogurt, hard cheese, and dry goods are often perfectly fine for days or even weeks past this date. Give it a smell, have a look — trust your judgment.
Use By is the one that actually matters for safety. Pay attention to it on raw meat, fish, and ready-to-eat meals. That date is a real cutoff, not a suggestion.
Sell By is for the store, not for you. It tells retailers when to rotate stock off the shelf. It has nothing to do with whether the food is still good once it's in your fridge.
When in doubt: smell it, look at it, and if something still seems off, toss it. Food poisoning costs a lot more than a chicken breast.
Restock With Intention
Before writing your next grocery list, check what's already in the fridge. Plan three to four meals around what you have, then fill in the gaps.
Buy produce in smaller quantities and more frequently if you find yourself throwing out half a bag of spinach every week. Flexibility beats bulk when it comes to fresh food.
How FoodSavr Keeps You on Track
After your clean-out, logging what you have takes under two minutes with FoodSavr's bulk photo recognition. Snap a photo of your fridge, and the app identifies items, estimates expiry dates, and organizes everything into your pantry.
From there, expiry notifications remind you before food goes bad — not after. The AI recipe assistant suggests meals that use up what's expiring soonest, so nothing slips through the cracks.
A spring clean-out is a great start. FoodSavr makes sure you never need another one.
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