Strategies for Keeping Communal Work Spaces Clean

As if I need further provocation to anger after my forty-five minute commute, today when I walked into work there was lettuce and Parmesan cheese scattered across the office kitchen floor. Who would leave a mess like that in a shared, communal space? Surely the person wouldn't do that in his or her own kitchen (I hope).

The inconsideration of the person who left that mess in my kitchen led me to wonder, does anyone (other than me) care about tidying up shared spaces? This particular kitchen is shared by over 100 students and about a dozen faculty and staff. What could I do I impress upon all of these people that the kitchen and refrigerator will only stay as clean as you keep it? (Contrary to popular belief, there are no magical cleaning fairies that come by at night and pick up after us.)

While there's no remedy for the blatant slobbery of leaving spilled food on the floor (besides, perhaps, electro-shock therapy or water boarding), based on my experience as the sole purveyor of office cleanliness I've come up with some strategies for encouraging others to clean up after their messes in the kitchen area.

The Sink
Oftentimes when there is an nasty odor coming from the kitchen, the culprit turns out to be rotting food trapped in the sink. Many times, people don't realize that the sink doesn't have a disposal and therefore food won't go down the drain. To alleviate that problem, I placed a sign above the sink that reads: "Please note: There is no disposal in this sink. Clean off excess food from dishes before washing them." I also invested in a drain strainer, so in the off-chance food bits still make it to the sink, it's easy enough to pick up the strainer and dump them into the trash.

Another common sink issue is that the sponge is left sopping wet at the bottom of the sink. It will never dry there, so a simple solution was to hang up a sponge holder (one of the ones with plastic suction cups) on the side of the sink. That way, even if you forget to squeeze out the excess water, it will dry eventually.

The Microwave
Oh, the microwave. The bane of the kitchen area. It's always amazes me how filthy it gets even though it's so, so easy to put a paper towel over whatever dish you're heating up. To encourage people to microwave responsibly, I invested in food container covers and a roll of plastic wrap. They're now conveniently located next to the microwave for shared use. (If people had to go to the cabinet for these items, forget it!) I also leave a bottle of spray cleaner and a roll of paper towels in the microwave area for easy cleanup in case all else fails.

The Refrigerator
Keeping the refrigerator cleaned and organized is probably the greatest challenge of a shared kitchen. Frequently leftovers will be stowed away there and left for dead. The only way to beat this behavior is institute a bi-weekly or monthly clean-out schedule. Provide adequate notice that this week is cleaning week, and then take no prisoners. Anything left in the fridge is fair game if left unattended on cleaning day. This includes plastic containers, drinks, condiments, etc. If they didn't care enough about it to throw it out themselves, they won't miss it when you chuck it; that's what I always say. Trust me: no one will ever complain that you threw out their favorite Tupperware dish on clean-out day, because they won't want it to be known that they're a serial food abandoner.

Photo Credit: Flikr Creative Commons, lomoa