By Lowell Chandler, EIA Climate Policy & Research Associate
Let’s face it, procrastination happens. Especially in college. So sometimes it’s necessary to have a refrigerator stocked full of cool beverages and snacks to keep your brain buzzing to study for that big exam or write that research paper. However, did you know that your refrigerator might be destroying our climate?
If you’re still on the fence on what impact you can have toward reducing climate change, consider this: hydroflurocarbons (HFCs) are “super” greenhouse gases used in most refrigerators, air-conditioners, and other consumer products with global warming potentials (GWPs) thousands of times that of carbon dioxide. Oh the climate monstrosity! The use of these gases has gone largely unnoticed for the last twenty years, since they first arrived on the market as replacements to ozone depleting substances (such as CFCs and HCFCs), which were phased out under the Montreal Protocol.
The good news is that in today’s world of increasingly environmentally conscious millennials, there’s a growing demand for climate friendly alternatives to typical college purchases like mini-refrigerators. And at long last, climate friendly mini-fridges are now available! These new units are HFC-free, which means the cooling system within the unit does not use HFCs—those super potent greenhouse gases.
When you’re browsing for a mini-fridge, remember you have a climate friendly choice. One example is seen here: a unit that uses an HFC-free refrigerant called iso-butane that has a GWP of four, compared to that of HFC-134a which is most commonly used in domestic refrigerators with a whopping GWP of 1,430. You don’t have to study math to know that’s a huge difference!
The choice is easy. Procrastinate or not, keep your beverages and snacks cold and reduce climate change, all from the comfort of your own dorm room. Remember, you can use your consumer purchasing power to increase the availability of climate friendly products* and to push products out of the market that are detrimental to the climate and our future.
*For more information on HFC-free climate friendly technologies, check out EIA’s latest report, Putting the Freeze on HFCs.