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"  With that hunk of cheddar that&amp;#039;s now more mold than cheese and that bag of onions that have decomposed into brown slime, cleaning out the fridge is the most unpleasant non-bathroom chore. At a personal level, throwing out uneaten food represents a waste of your work and money, and on a global level,  nearly a third\u00A0of all food gets wasted, representing a huge amount of resources poured into nothing. Luckily, with a little planning you can keep food waste from ruining your budget and your environment. 1. Shop Smart Food waste starts with shopping. When you&amp;#039;re heading to the store, have a plan for the meals you&amp;#039;ll be making for the next few days and the ingredients you&amp;#039;ll need. If you know you don&amp;#039;t have a plan (hey, it happens) just buy what you&amp;#039;ll need for that day or the next. It&amp;#039;s especially important to keep this in mind with perishables \u2014 do you really think you&amp;#039;ll be able to eat a crate of clementines in a week? 2. Storage Solutions Even if your fridge isn&amp;#039;t much bigger than a shoebox, there are a few basic things you can do to improve your food storage. Keep dairy and meats in the back so they&amp;#039;ll stay cold. If you have two tubs of yogurt on hand, put the oldest tub in front of the new one. \u2028If all your vegetables are in green bags, you&amp;#039;ll have a hard time knowing what&amp;#039;s what. Instead, invest in some large clear zip-top bags and keep your veggies in them. That way, you can easily see what you&amp;#039;ve got. And if the idea of all that plastic has you squirming, just rinse and reuse the bags. 3. Freeze It Look, your freezer can do a lot more than make ice or keep vodka cold. If time is almost up for that fish you didn&amp;#039;t get around to frying, bag it, label it, and freeze it. Vegetables that are about to expire can be cooked and frozen. And the great thing about a stocked freezer is that the freezer itself is actually more efficient that way. You just saved money and food; you win. 4. Sharing is Caring Next time you&amp;#039;re staring down two heads of cauliflower and a chicken, invite someone over for dinner. Cook up something you can throw in a big container and bring food for your coworkers. Ask the cute guy down the hall if he wants your leftovers!\u00A0 5. Hone Your Pantry Skills A big part of not wasting food is not buying it in the first place. Look for dishes that can be made with blessedly shelf-stable goods (think pastas, canned veggies, and other stuff that has a far, far away expiration date). Find some faves, and make them your go-to meals. Or, eat your way through your fridge before you allow yourself to shop more \u2014 that&amp;#039;ll give you Iron Chef-style cooking skills and make it easier to see what you&amp;#039;ve actually got on hand. If ever in doubt, remember that a single egg makes almost anything tolerable, if not delicious. Elizabeth Stark is a food writer with a passion for seasonal food, great desserts, and inadvisable wine pairings. Read more on her blog,  Brooklyn Supper.\u00A0 Follow Elizabeth on  Twitter,  Pinterest, and  Facebook. Photo Credit: Getty Images "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/food-cocktails/news/a22499/prevent-grocery-waste/>