How do you keep lettuce fresh longer?

I just read an article about this. I guess what makes the lettuce go bad so quickly is rot. You can't let it stay wet or it will rot quickly. A lot of people say that wrapping it in a papertowel collects the moisture and keeps it fresh longer. Someone else said, it's not so much the wet, but the combination of wet being trapped in plastic. Someone else says they wrap it in wet paper towels then put it in a cloth sac so the air can flow through. Then again, there's one that says wrap it in a wet cloth and then tie tightlly shut in a plastic bag, so I don' t know. Try it and see what works. Maybe it just depends on how fresh it is when you get it.
 
One idea that made a lot of sense to me was a trick I have used to keep flowers fresh in trasport. Wrap the cut end (where the roots grow from) with wet papertowel and wrap it so moisture stays in tocuh with roots.
 
Here's a funny one: "Do not store near apples, pears or bananas as the ethylene gas these fruits emit will help speed the ripening (and decay) process."
I have always had a natural tendency to store these types of fruit on the counter while others go in the fridge. Maybe this is why my family has always done it this way? In the fridge, they would make other foods go bad quicker...if it's true anyway!
 
 
 

 Heck, I never unwrap lettuce when I buy it. That explains why mine hardly lasts. Thank you rleahy!