Why Every Californian Needs to Keep Paper Towels in Their Refrigerator at All Times

A few months ago, we told you the fantastic reason that everyone should put a quarter in their freezer. This new life hack is almost just as good! 

We’ll give you a heads up. If you routinely have guests that just go to your fridge to grab condiments for tacos or a beer during whatever sports game you’re watching, they’re going to ask why you have this particular item in your fridge. They’ll probably think you were feeling just a little stressed about something and absent mindedly stuck it in there. Heck, we’ve accidentally put our garage door opener in our refrigerator while putting away groceries. We’re certainly not judging! 

Experts Say You Should Keep Paper Towel In Your Refrigerator

If you’re someone who tends to over buy for the amount of fresh food that your family can eat by the time it goes bad, this lifehack from Readers’ Digest might buy you a little time. They suggest putting some paper towels in your refrigerator. And we don’t mean just shoving a roll in there between all your boxes, bottles and Tupperware. 

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According to the magazine, lining your crisper drawers with paper towels can help keep produce items like lettuce, kale, spinach, arugula, microgreens and more fresh. Vegetables like these leafy greens start to lose water the longer they sit in your fridge waiting to be added to a salad or whatever you planned to use them for. By the time you take the veggies out to make your salad, they’re looking a little sad and feeling a little mushy from sitting in that water. 

READ MORE: Why Every Idahoan and Californian Should Keep a Quarter in Their Freezers

We’re not salad people. In fact, we have some weird aversion to lettuce. We won’t eat anything that it touches. BUT we do love tossing broccoli in the airfryer for a snack or cutting up some cucumber and topping those slices with tuna. Those snacks aren’t as good if those veggies get rubbery before we get to them. Here’s where the paper towels help! 

They’ll soak up that water, keeping your veggies drier and therefore, fresher over the time that they’re sitting in your fridge. That said, you will need to switch them out every so often. If the veggies are sitting on a totally saturated paper towel, it’s no better than having them sitting in a pool of water! 

If you’re someone who LOVES to garden and is excited to get planting the good stuff in Idaho, California or wherever this article finds you, this tip could be a game changer if your garden does very well this year. It’s also a game changer, for folks like us whose eyes are always bigger than our stomachs while we’re strolling around Albertsons or Winco!