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Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that our refrigerator at home is stuffed with all kinds of crap that the wife and I will probably never touch again, except to throw them out once they start stinking up the kitchen every time we open the fridge door. But you’ll have to execute me as a traitor to the Green Nation before I unplug forever our Great White Hunter (which is what we image our beagle calls the fridge since it provides endless amounts of meat).
Besides, as the New York Times points out in this morning’s article about radicals trying to live without refrigerators, the appliances don’t use that much energy, relatively speaking. Besides, if I didn’t have a fridge, my carbon footprint would likely triple. Let me explain.
First of all, I’d probably make three trips a week to the pub, just to drink my favorite microbrews since I wouldn’t have a cold one available in the fridge, particularly during the summer, when drinking’s best. How many miles is it from Takoma Park to Rustico?
Second of all, a cooler filled with ice is no solution. I mean, how often would I have to replace the ice? Daily? Twice a day? And who would be making that ice? Well, I can tell you for certain that I won’t be relying on Mother Nature to freeze one of the Potomac’s tributaries. I’ll either rely on some industrial ice machine plugged into the devil’s outlet or buy a freezer and tuck it away in the basement, like the lead subject in the Times article, where it will suck on that coal-powered feed all the same.
Third of all, what is the main component of ice? That’s right, water. Unless you’re refreezing the same water over and over, you’re going to be using more water. Have you heard of the global water crisis?
Fourth of all, how many trips will I need to make to the grocery store to prepare the fresh vegetables and meats that I used to store in my fridge? Yes, I could store them in my new freezer in the basement, but please see point No. 2.
Fifth of all, where will I store all my jams, jellies, and mustards that require refrigeration after I open them? I guess I could store them in the cooler that I’ll be replacing with ice once a day. But do you know how many mustards, jams, and jellies we have at home? I’d need a separate cooler just for them. And who, by the way, is going to make my coolers? I won’t be Mother Nature. It’ll be some major plastics manufacturer plugged into the grid. How much waste will I generate just because I don’t have proper refrigeration?
I’m sure I could go on, but I think you get the point. There are better ways to go green than unplugging your fridge.
Image by Flickr user edcrowle