Mum's ‘divisive’ cleaning act exposes a little secret a lot of us are hiding

She said it's 'the hack that changed her life'. But, not everyone agrees.

Keeping leftovers and meal prepping are both great ways to save money and time in the kitchen.

However, it can be easy to forget last week’s (or last month’s) stir fry when it’s pushed to the back corner of the fridge, behind everything from your last few grocery shops.

But, what do you do when you rediscover that container, now mouldy and sauce-stained?

One woman brought her strategy to TikTok, and it caused more debate than she bargained for.

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Image: TikTok / @court_wags.

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“The hack that changed my life!”

Mum Courtney took to TikTok this week to share how she deals with chilli well past its use by date.

“Favourite thing to do with Tupperware that’s been in the fridge too long!” she said. 

In the video, captioned ‘the hack that changed my life!’, she’s seen tossing the container straight from the fridge, into the rubbish bin.

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“Into the bin it goes 😂”

Many commenters related to the post, adding that throwing out a container every once in a while is hardly a big deal.

“My rule of thumb is if I can replace it at the dollar tree I’m not stressing over it at all,” one commenter said.

“I would rather rebuy it than deal with the cleaning and biohazard it probably is 😂” another said.

“it's none of my business what it looks like inside the container, into the bin it goes 😂” a third agreed.

Some even shared more extreme stories.

“One time I threw a pot away,” one commenter said.

“I threw out a crockpot once 😬” another agreed.

“I've thrown out nice glass Tupperware because I'm not opening that,” a third said.

“I once threw away all the dishes in the sink,” said another.

“I’ve thrown away a whole lunch bag. I was like “that’s heavy…that means somethings in there. I’m not tryna find out.” 🚮” said one commenter.

“I cannot physically do this”

However, just as many were against the notion, saying it’s not only a waste of plastic, but also money.

“So you're telling me I'm here buying things with the less packaging possible, trying to reuse stuff... and there are people throwing away perfectly good tupperwares.” one commenter said.

“I never do this; idk why you can't just wash and reuse it. 🤷‍♀️” said another.

“I do not bc I’m not throwing out plastic that can just be washed and reused,” a third agreed.

“I cannot physically do this. I just imagine it in the landfill and it’s puke city cleaning it out. Zero regrets,” another said.

@court_wags

The hack that changed my life! #kitchenhacks #fyp #tupperware #forthegirl #momsoftiktok

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Maybe there’s a right way to do it?

Some commenters on the post suggested a few ways you can throw your containers away with a little less guilt and shared some inspiration to clean it.

“Buy glass ones and clean out your fridge when you put groceries away. Takes an extra few minutes and isn’t sending more plastic to landfills. You could have at least recycled it.” a commenter said.

“put them in the freezer, wait till the contents are frozen, run hot water on the outside (it’ll pop right out) & soak the containers in HOT soapy water before the dishwasher. works every time!!!” one said.

“I stopped buying standard tupperware and now buy deli containers from Amazon in various sizes. They are great for food storage and food prep, and I don’t feel bad throwing them away.”  another suggested.

“okay, I know this is like SUPER wasteful and plastics are bad. blah blah blah. but my biggest life hack is I've switched to ziploc bags for ALL leftovers. I know myself too well for tupperware.” another said.

Originally published as Mum's ‘divisive’ cleaning act exposes a little secret a lot of us are hiding