Refrigerator Smackdown

An article in today’s New York Times talks about how a small segment of the green movement has come to regard the homely refrigerator as an unacceptable drain on energy, and is choosing to go without it. Go without a refrigerator! No cold beer or ice cream. No yogurt, no juice. Talk about dedication.

You can begin to understand why someone would want to unplug their refrigerator when you realize that an older model uses about 1,300 kilowatt-hours per year, or produces roughly 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide – the same amount from burning 105 gallons of gasoline. A newer, more energy efficient model would cut that figure in half yet still produce an abundance of CO2.

Nonetheless, getting rid of your refrigerator because it contributes to global warming is a bit extreme. The truth is, you don’t have to go to such radical measures to live more sustainably. That’s the purpose of UK Aware – to show you how you can incorporate little changes into your day to day life that help cut down on greenhouse emissions without sacrificing your modern lifestyle. Attend UK AWARE in April to find out how you can help save the planet without suddenly morphing into Fred Flintstone.