It’s that time of year, when most of us like to do some serious cleaning of our houses (or closet, or car...or all of the above). At Trash Panda, we’ve decided to tackle spring cleaning our pantry as well, and we have a few tips for you to follow if you decide to join us! The simple steps below will help you clear out the junk and make the the good stuff easier to access.

It helps to pull almost everything out of your pantry to get a good idea of what you have. This also makes reorganizing easier when you’re ready for that step. Toss all products that are expired, and take the opportunity to scan some items with your Trash Panda App. This will help expose anything lurking in your pantry with potentially harmful ingredients, and you can make an informed decision about whether to keep or toss it. Even those of us at Trash Panda found some things in our pantries that weren’t #TrashPandaApproved and had to go. Check out our video on Instagram to see what Katie found in hers…

We like to use the first-in, first-out method. Put the newest products in the back, and make sure the ones that are close to expiration are easy to spot. You might even want to make a plan for using some of those in your meal prep this week to reduce food waste! This is a great time to check for staples, so go ahead and add things to your grocery list based on what you might have gotten rid of, or what you realize is missing.

This will be individual for everyone: for example, if you like to make smoothies often, a smoothie zone where all your smoothie products are grouped together makes sense. If you like to bake a lot, all your baking products can be grouped together too. You might even keep things like dried beans/canned tomatoes close together to grab them for soup recipes. And don’t forget about the kids - it’s helpful for them to have a low shelf with snacks they can help themselves to! (Or if they’re really young, make sure anything you don’t want them to get into is off those lower shelves.) Just think about what you use your pantry for most often, and organize it based on what works best for you.

We hope clearing some clutter from your pantry eases some stress, and that the Trash Panda App makes it even easier to take stock of the foods that will make you feel your best!

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