Extreme choices

Watering the lawn, recycling toilet paper, composting waste, line-drying clothes, these amount to big changes in the way the rich North adapts to climate change. New afterthoughts keep adding and in this, the latest is to live without a refrigerator!

People claim to be spending between 380-1300 KWh every year, amounting to a maximum of 2000 pounds of carbon dioxide. Hence there are moves to do away with fridges. Sometimes it means a simple choice of going for smaller ice-boxes and warm beer. But many times, it calls for a total change in eating habits like cooking fresh and cooking small amounts, not going for ready-made food, etc.

Technologically too, it makes no sense to draw power to keep the fridge running when it is snowing outside. (With the insulation that homes in the west have, the insides are warm and not conducive for storing food.)Why not draw the cold air outside into the fridge? A simple rewiring, a dash of microprocessors and few extra pipes running around the house (in cold climes) could well reduce dependence on power to run your fridges, says the Energy Collective. Check out the blog for more.

But there are others who think this is all an extreme choice. They point out that without a fridge you will end up in more trips to the store (which burns more gas, for those who drive) and the purchase of food in smaller portions (thus more packaging)! Carbon footprint could be more easily and radically reduced if you simply stop eating meat.

Either way, it would be a good idea to follow some basic tips to cut power consumption by your refrigerator. Check these out, and let us know if it makes a difference:
· Once a year, unplug the refrigerator and clean the door gaskets and compressor coils.
· Buy a refrigerator that has the freezer on top, a configuration that is more efficient than a side-by-side model.
· Do not open the door too often, to limit the frequency with which the compressor runs.
· Place the refrigerator in a cool place.