Last night I played freezer Tetris
After narrowly escaping a smashed toe by a falling item from my freezer, I decided to stack the items in our freezer a bit more compactly. Day in and day out the items in one’s freezer become rearranged by family members and they tend to take on a different shape. This leads items to being stacked on uneven surfaces and the slick frozen surfaces also tend to make them more likely to slide out and crush your toes.
In a what turned out to be less than two minutes, I rearranged my freezer’s contents into an amazingly tight and compact block. I envisioned the items as Tetris blocks and made them fit accordingly.
So, rather than slamming the freezer door shut just before that microwave meal slides out onto the floor, take the two minutes to rearrange your frozen foods. Why leave a booby trap set for the next person opening your freezer door? That next person could be you again.
FYI – Tetris also helped Homer pack his car.
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Posted by Matt on Dec 17, 2007 |
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16 comments posted
Posted by msucase - 12/17/2007
I do this everytime I buy groceries. It’s also a good time to go through the fridge and see what has past the “point of no return.” I also find that regularly reorganizing keeps me aware of what I have in stock so that I don’t buy things I already have.
Posted by amber - 12/17/2007
you made a good point here, and the video was too funny. thanks for a smile on a Munday morning
Posted by Katie - 12/17/2007
This is fresh in my mind because my husband has lately become strangely obsessed with eating everything in the freezer, because he’s displeased with its crowdedness.
I don’t understand… freezers are for holding food. If the food is not, in fact, falling out of the freezer, I don’t understand why an empty freezer is such an advantage over a full one.
I’m willing to unclutter a lot of things just for aesthetics’ sake, but not my food supply!
Posted by Cyrano - 12/17/2007
I don’t know if it matters too much, but freezers (and fridges) work better when cold air can touch as much surface area as possible. That means space between objects is your friend, not your enemy.
I honestly don’t know if it matters for long term storage though.
Posted by Marie - 12/17/2007
Forget Tetris . . . my freezer is more like Minesweeper.
Posted by Andamom - 12/17/2007
Over the years, I have known some people who freeze everything – from soups to dinners to fruits, their freezers are stocked with massive supplies of foods. Then, a power outage occurs and these people are then forced to throw it all away. We don’t have a microwave – and use our freezer for just what we think we’ll use in the next month + vodka for parties.
As a result, I think the bigger issue with freezers is making sure that they are as energy efficient as possible. So, while some air does need to circulate inside your freezer, it is suggested that people don’t keep an empty freezer as cold items do help the freezer recover when the door is opened. Water bottles are an inexpensive and easy way to fill up a freezer. Another suggestion is to buy a chest freezer as opposed to an upright because they are better conservers of energy. Here’s an article with other hints: http://www.consumerenergycente.....ators.html
Posted by helix - 12/17/2007
This is a general storage problem. Sometimes packing things “tightly” makes the clutter worse. If items are packed like a 3D puzzle, it becomes a drag to get anything out because you have displace the things in the way, get what you want, and finally replace the displaced items.
This is not easy with only two hands. I say if one is starting to think of “tetris” when accessing items, be they food in a freezer or stuff in a drawer, then that storage area should be thinned out.
Posted by Nic Waller - 12/17/2007
I just wanted to say that I love reading your blog, and I’ve been a subscriber for a few months now. This kind of post is what got me hooked in the first place, so keep it up.
Thanks for helping me to unclutter my life.
Posted by Nicole - 12/17/2007
Another solution is to minimize the number of frozen foods you buy/eat. I realize it’s nearly impossible to not use the freezer, but ours is far from full. Not only is the food-freezing process (I’m talking industrial, not personal here) a large waste of energy resources, but it’s also better to eat and buy fresh and local.
Posted by Jacki Hollywood Brown - 12/17/2007
I put baskets in my freezer above my fridge (dollar store plastic baskets with lots of holes in them for the cold air to get around). Each basket has a food category, i.e. vegetables, fruit, muffins etc.
They stack on top of each other. It makes it easy to get food in and out. Stuff doesn’t fall out of the freezer either.
Posted by Hayden Tompkins - 12/17/2007
I arrange my freezer content by like items: meats together, veggies together, etc. That way I know what I have which is a BIG problem of clutterers.
Posted by Adam Snider - 12/17/2007
I do this whenever I buy groceries. I also keep a list on the side of the fridge so I know what items are tucked away in the back of the freezer and can’t be seen without pulling other things out.
Posted by Beth Vaughn - 12/18/2007
I’ve played freezer tetris numerous times. Unfortunately, it isn’t as comfy and cozy as the version we play on the couch.
I love your blog and I just want you to know I shared a bit about it on my own site. You can see it at http://www.easyecoliving.org/2.....trick.html
Don’t feel obligated to participate in the meme. I just wanted to put you on there so my readers would click and see your site. You have such wonderful content. Thank you.
Posted by Jack Cheng - 12/18/2007
There’s a kid’s toy from Cranium called Jam Pack Jam that’s the same idea as the Simpsons clip:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obi.....tterer-20/
It. Is. Awesome. I bought it for a 6-year-old and the fact that the game is about rearranging furniture in order to pack it all into a big SUV (yet still always having stuff left over) amuses me to no end. It’s like tetris with friends laced with social commentary about clutter – if I were a toy inventor, this is exactly the kind of toy I’d make
Posted by Carrie - 12/19/2007
We play this game too! I have a freezer-on-the-bottom type fridge, so it’s a bit easier on the toes…
I like to do big batch cooking. To eliminate clutter in the fridge freezer and the small one we have in the basement, I make sure that I use the same size of container or freezer bag so things stack neatly. Medium size Ziploc freezer bags work best for our family – I fill the bag, seal, and then press the bag flat and put in the freezer. Once frozen, I can ‘book end’ the bags neatly. Same goes for the reusable foil baking pans I use for casseroles and lasagna – these are labelled and once frozen, are stacked in the freezer according to size.
This eliminates the ‘what the heck is this?’ factor when searching for a meal, as everything is labeled and dated.
And for my cooking challenged husband, I include reheating instructions on all.
Posted by Fazed Reality - 12/19/2007
I never had anything fall out of my freezer… The entire concept and idea is foreign to me!
Even when I was on vacations with my friends and we had two freezers filled to the point of collapse with bear and milk (don’t ask…) nothing ever fell out. I suppose it all boils down to:
a. if it’s full – it’s full
b. everybody make sure to tidy up after use – even when drunk or in the morning with a hangover
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