Pantry Tetris

How to complete Pantry Tetris

Most food waste happens because older items get buried behind new ones and quietly expire. Running first-in-first-out on your pantry means you actually eat what you bought before it goes bad, and you can see at a glance what you have.

1. Pull everything out so you can read every date and see duplicates
2. Check expiration and best-by dates, and toss or set aside anything already past it
3. Group like with like - cans, grains, snacks, baking - so categories have a home
4. Reload each group with the soonest-expiring items in front and the newest pushed to the back
5. Stand a few near-date items somewhere visible as a "use this week" reminder

Tips

• Turn cans and boxes label-out so you never have to dig to identify them
• Decant flour, rice, and pasta into clear containers and label them with the expiry date
• Snap a phone photo of the finished shelves to curb buying duplicates while shopping

What counts as done

Every shelf is sorted so the nearest-expiry items sit at the front, and nothing past date is left in the pantry.