Take my advice, I've so been there. 2 strategies. One, do you guys get along? Are you friends? Then make plans to meet one evening. Look them in the eye and tell them why it's important to you; really important. Make it about you, not them.

If that doesn't work, there's only one solution. Move out. People don't change. In the meantime try to count your blessings. I know it's hard but I would have given anything for just messy. My roommates stole my stuff, blasted music all night and one even tried to attack me with a knife.

I have never been able to get roommates to do what they will say they'll do. I would buy my own fridge and try to ignore their seperates messes as much as possible. Good luck.

Food wise, my roommates were generally ok. Dirty dishes left in the sink for a week - that was a different story. I would put those outside on the front steps.

Get yourself a container that will fit into the condiments area with your condiments in it, and a container for elsewhere in the fridge that takes up the space you need and use it for other stuff. Put your name on them and your stuff in them. This will work for the freezer, too.

As for the spills and dirty counters, you could try and institute a rota, or try and get everyone together once a week for a communal clean up and then eat a meal together. At least things are cleaned regularly and you have to all face each other as human beings who deserve respect and cooperation.

Have you considered buying your own mini-fridge and avoiding the confrontation entirely?

Head on over to Passive Aggressive Notes for some hilarious inspiration.

Sometimes I feel like I take the 'mom' approach, but if there's not enough space in the fridge for my stuff (and there's not much of it!), I'll find something to throw out, shove everything else over, and tuck my stuff on the side (also helpful to put your stuff in the same inconspicuous location to keep people from eating it). If anyone asks about their food (which they probably won't, since they clearly forgot) then tell them. If they care, they'll stop leaving it. If they don't, well it only takes a few seconds for you to make some room and throw stuff out.

i agree with smths- if they don't want to address the issue, and it seems like they don't care, just make space for your stuff and keep using that same spot until it slowly becomes your space. I have 3 roommates and I've had to do that. I also had to resort to getting the landlord to remind them that lease states the house, including kitchen, must be kept clean. perhaps the RA could remind them of that.

I also think the container idea is fantastic as well.

I'm a RD for a small college.

1. Talk to your hall advisor about the situation. I train my staff in dealing with these types of conflicts all the time.

2. Have a sit-down conversation with your suitemates, at a neutral place (like a coffee shop, not the kitchen). Ask them how they believe the situation is going and using I statements, explain how you're feeling. You may be unaware of some issues they may be having with yourself, for instance.

3. If it's really looking poor and the above solutions haven't worked, apply for a room transfer - when doing so, specify that you are looking for a "clean room" situation and define what clean means to you. (i.e. dishes must be done everyday vs. once a week)

What people consider clean is different for everyone. I would do two things.
First, address your concerns to your dorm mates. They may not be aware that this is causing such a problem for you. Do this in a polite, respectable manner. If you dont see any change, try some of the passive aggressive techniques that others have suggested above. I would alert the RA or floor leader of the issue and ask for an intervention. If nothing continues to happen consider escalating your techniques to really hammer your point home. Some people need a kick in the pants to get going.

Second, and most importantly, adjust your expectations. This is a shared space, not your space. You will have to lower your level of cleanliness if you expect others to raise theirs. People do change, but dont expect anything more than you are willing to do.

What you should not do is accept the status quo. Always make a concerted effort to improve the situation. Having a clean kitchen helps everyone.

I'm terrible at picking roommates, so I have a lot of experience with this. My most important advice is just to tackle it head-on and NOT passive aggressively. Get all your roommates together and discuss it. It's scary and awkward, but leaving mean notes or texting doesn't solve anything. In my experience, I've learned that the thing that works best is to grab a six pack of beer, order some food, and talk about it over food and drinks. It's a more casual atmosphere.

Also, you could assign chores. One person cleans the kitchen, someone else the living room, etc, and switch every week. Having one or two chores to be responsible for makes it seem less overwhelming.

Another thing is just to ask your roommates (and do this yourself) to just clean up after yourself.

Learning how to communicate with people, especially around issues like this, is a good critical skill to develop now, even at the risk of pissing off your roommates. I think there are lots of options: Call a roommate meeting-- anyone who doesn't attend doesn't get a say; Come up with ground rules for cleaning, disposing of food, etc.; Set a deadline each week and then clean out any food in the fridge that isn't labeled with a name and date; Designate specific spots in the fridge for people to keep their individual items so everyone has a space (use tape or something). It's definitely a good idea to consult with a residence hall adviser, and maybe getting your own fridge is an option, but talking it out first is best.

I have this issue in my office, and I've found that most of the time when people leave things to get old and moldy and gross in the fridge, it's because they've either forgotten that it's there or that it's theirs.

We instituted a policy of labeling everything with our initials. Now when people see a moldy block of cheese or long-expired yogurt, instead of ignoring it, they say, "oh that's mine!" and dump it. Try putting out a sharpie and some post-it notes or masking tape (for containers that you don't want to write directly on).

I think it would also be good to approach each roommate individually. When you ask a group of people to change a behavior, two things happen: either the sense of personal responsibility slides -- people think, "well I'm not the problem" and feel annoyed at being lumped in with the troublemakers -- or people know that they're the problem and bristle at little at being called out on it.

Talk to whoever you think will be most receptive first and that might make it easier to choose your words well with the more problematic roomies so that you don't end up sounding like the people on passive aggressive notes. "Katie and I were talking about how the fridge was getting a little gross and we thought it would be a good idea to blah blah -- what do you think?"

If they've brushed you off in the past, they will do it again. Holding a meeting might make your roommates change for a week or two, but their bad habits will resurface. (I once had a roommate sarcastically call me "mom" because I like living in a clean house. She was older, but she acted like she was my lazy teenage daughter!)

Hang tight for the rest of your time in the dorm and look forward to moving out! In my experience people won't change their habits, you will only make them bitter and resent you (or you end up bitter and resent them because you have to clean up after their messes).

Ughh I've been there.....I have no clue what to do! My roommate used to leave piles of dirty dishes in the sink and then when I would do them she would get mad at me because she was 'going to get to them.' So don't try that tactic....maybe try a chore chart??

Are you a good cook? Good will goes a long way. You can make a big meal that everyone is welcome to (either in person or to leftovers). Afterwards, you have a case for requesting that everyone pick up after themselves, since you love to cook and love to feel unstressed in the kitchen. If there's leftovers in it for your roommates they may honor your requests more willingly. Also, don't leave a note which reads "The dishes in the dishwasher are clean, your dishes in the sink are not." Learned that one the hard way.

I'm the original asker.

I've tired discussing other issues with them and they tend to brush things off.
Also, just to be clear, everyone has individual mini-fridges already (not allowed anything more than a certain size for our own stuff), but everyone still needs to use the common fridge.

Actually, leaving things in the sink is rather new but that has started too.. which is arguably worse.

My favorite idea is probably the bin idea. I may go with it

Also, the RA's in our particular hall are very inactive and I don't even know them (other than one I know personally)... there's very little community in our building.

my solution: move out.

there are nice, respectful people out there that you can coexist with just fine. i wish i had known that when i was 19...

Chore wheel for household duties! One of the duties could be to clear out the fridge? It makes sense to delegate shelf space, label yr salad dressing, etc. also, pop popcorn, dribk beer and make it a nice housemate meeting. 1x month or something- BBQ, order take out, eat icecream and invest in the living situation.

I had a housemate that used to leave dirty dishes for weeks and week, so much that they would grow mould and generally stink. I used to ask her to clean it up repeatedly, in a nice way, then gradually got more annoyed as the weeks went on...

Finally I snapped and - although quite harsh - I took a picture of the dirty dishes, sent it to her and said if it wasn't done by that evening I would do it and charge her (I handled the bills). Everyone thought it was hilarious as she was quite materialistic and they were done by that evening!

Obviously I wouldn't recommend this, this worked only on that one extreme occasion. Really just talk to them! Straight forward is the best way. Also we have our own shelves in the fridge, is that possible? Then you know whose it what and can ask them to clear anything out of date.

When I had a roomate we bought stickers those dots you see at office supply places. Everyone got a color. Then colored tape was used to demark areas of fridge and freezer. Anything with no sticker could be thrown out anything in the wrong tape are got moved to wear it belonged color wise. In freezer we put in rubbermade boxes and everyone got a rubbermade box and could put everything they wanted in that box. The only common supply was ice cubes.

At work we taped a sharpie to a string next to the fridge and had a note that unlabeled and undated food would be removed and that anything over a week old except condiments would be removed. Then when it was time to clean the fridge I could throw away things without guilt.

Before moving out or writing notes on food, try improving communication. I had the same problem! It's hard to talk/coordinate/keep track with so many busy people.

Get a white board in your kitchen to help communicate with your roomies. It definitely helped my house of busy grad students. On our board, we had a sort of inventory (low/out), shopping lists, and when someone made a bunch of food that needed to be eaten. You can probably add "is this old?" or at least communicate that there will be an "if it smells bad, I'll throw it away" rule. The color coding is a good idea too.

I hope you don't have to go through the headache and expense of moving over this. Odds are, your roommates will appreciate learning to coexist with others a little more fluidly.