If you think tossing those banana and spinach is of no real consequence to you, think again. According to new research, your wasteful food habits are costing you more than $50 a week.

The new study conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Bosch home appliances found that Americans have about $102 worth of food in their fridge at any given time. Based on survey results, the average American will end up tossing $53.81 worth of that. That amounts to $2,798 every year!

In terms of pounds, each American tosses about 103 pounds of spoiled food every year, which adds up to 6,180 pounds in a lifetime.

With numbers like those, it’s safe to say we should seriously reconsider our shopping habits, especially when it comes to fruit. Fruit was the most commonly wasted food overall. Specially bananas (55%), strawberries (50%), and apples (47%), which makes sense since these are some of the most popular popular produce items at supermarkets nationwide.

Bread (46%), milk (46%), and blueberries (45%) were also common casualties. Leafy greens (44%), potatoes (43%), meat (43%) and yogurt (42%) rounded out the top 10 most wasted foods.

Feeling bad about your wastefulness? You’re not alone. The study found that 73 percent of respondents said they felt guilty when they wasted food.

The main reason people reported wasting food was just forgetting about something that’s in there, or that it gets pushed to the back or lost in the clutter. But the most food reportedly got tossed because it spoiled before anyone had a chance to eat it.

While 67% of the 2,000 survey respondents viewed themselves as organized, 25% also readily admitted their fridge was not organized at all. So perhaps a step in the right direction is showing your fridge a bit of that organization you display elsewhere. Your efforts could, after all, save you more than $50 a week!

For more ideas on how to cut back on food waste, check out these ideas.


Also see, Healthy eaters waste the most food.

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Meghan is a full-time writer exploring the fun facts behind food. She lives a healthy lifestyle but lives for breakfast, dessert and anything with marinara. She’s thrown away just as many meals as she’s proud of.