Page 80 - How to Be a Conscious Eater - Making Food Choices That Are Good for You

trucks or railcar, access to food for those who don’t live near
fresh sources of it. We should be thankful to live in a time
when we can cool our food (and our bodies) through the tech-
nology of refrigerants.
But here’s the rub. Ironically, cooling actually leads to
warming—global warming, that is. Number one on Project
Drawdown’s list of the most effective ways to reverse global
warming is actually “refrigerant management.” Sexy, huh?
But it’s serious business. What happens is that the chemicals
that chill, both in refrigerators and in air conditioners, warm
the atmosphere. Not because of how much greenhouse gases
they emit (it’s a fairly low level) but because of the way they
trap heat. HFCs, which is short for hydrofluorocarbons, have
anywhere from 1,000 to 9,000 times the warming effect that
carbon dioxide does. Nearly 200 countries worldwide have
already agreed to start phasing them out, but the issue is
carefully handling the destructive refrigerants already in cir-
culation. What does this mean to you as a consumer?
Enjoy your frozen foods conscien-
tiously. Check the temperatures
on your fridge and freezer. If
they’re lower than necessary,
you’re using a lot of excess
energy. According to the US
Department of Energy, aim for
O
TO AVOID
T
A
I
D
V
O
35°F–38°F for the fridge part, USING EXCESS
I
S
G
SS
E
XC
U
E
N
and 0°F for the freezer. And ask ENERGY, AIM
E
,
Y
RG
AI
E
M
N
FOR 35 F TO
yourself whether you really FO R 3 5 ° F T O
R
F
O
F
need that extra refrigerator in 38 38 F FOR
°
R
Y
E
,
ID
U
F
G
R
O
the garage. If you’ve got an old YOUR FRIDGE,
F
N
A
AND 0 F FOR
D 0
O
F
°
one (going on fifteen or twenty T THE FREEZER. R
ER
.
F
E
H
EZ
E
R
years), replacing it is a good
Stuff that Comes from the Ground 69