Gadgets: Make food last longer in your fridge

It's nice to write about a gadget that will save you money, but how much depends on the user. I'm referring to the Shelfy, a compact device (6.6 by 4.5 by 2.6 inches) you place in your refrigerator. It extends the life of fruits and veggies by eliminating bacteria and breaking down pollutants that accelerate ripening.

A company representative wrote in an email that she tested it and "can personally vouch for the fact that I have seen a notable difference in food shelf life, especially with fruits and vegetables." The Shelfy is said to extend the life of fruits and vegetables up to 12 days. And remember, with bad food comes bad odors. The Shelfy will remove 80% of the odors by preventing mold and unpleasant odors.

The email also stated: The world wastes about 2.5 billion tons of food every year, and the United States is the leader, discarding more food than any other country. This adds up to an approximate value of nearly $218 billion—the equivalent of 130 billion meals wasted annually in America.

Me: I'm, without a doubt, part of the problem. My wife and I buy fruit and vegetables weekly, and often, they are untouched and get trashed. So, for my testing, I purchased some fruit and vegetables and didn't eat them. I just waited for them to go bad. As is normal, the first to start to go bad in about six days was a tub of spring mix lettuce, followed closely by strawberries.

Then I went to the store and bought the exact same amount of fruit and vegetables and placed them in the same place in my refrigerator—except this time, I put the Shelfy on the same shelf. On day six, everything looked fine. On day 10, I used the lettuce, and it was fine. On day 12, I finished the lettuce. I was convinced.

Shelfy's parent company, Vitesy, is an Italian company that produces sustainable and smart solutions to fight air pollution and...