Photo Essay: Ditching the Fridge
Its hard to imagine life without a fridge, but in places all over the world people get by just fine without them. We’ve become accustomed to living in a society of modern conveniences, like microwaves, refrigerators, and electric coffee makers. But with a little imagination and heeding the ways of past generations, pulling the plug on your kitchen clunker really isn’t all that scary.
In an ongoing effort to green our lives, we thought we’d see what life without a fridge would look like. Refrigerators, especially old ones like ours, are the worst energy hogs in a home, sucking up 1,383 kilowatt hours per year. According to the US Department of Energy, that’s about 14% of a household’s annual energy usage. This translates to $120 per year (based on the US average price of electricity at 8.62 cents/KWh), or roughly 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide—the same as burning 105 gallons of gasoline.
Before electricity, households stored food in cold cellars and pantries, more food was grown at home, and grocery shopping was done on a more regular basis. “So why can’t we?” we asked ourselves. After a few weeks of mulling over the idea, sorting out the logistics, and reading other people’s experiences with going fridge-less, we finally did it.
1. After clearing out the mud room, we filled Ziploc bags with snow from the backyard to insulate the frozen foods just a bit more.
2. The bags of snow line the cooler where frozen foods will be stored. During the warmer months, we'll stop using frozen foods, but its really tough to get by during the winters here without frozen veggies.
3. I didn't realize how many condiments and sauces we actually had! But come on, its really hard to say no to sweet chili sauce...
4. Loading up our new 100% earth friendly, walk-in fridge & freezer with food.
5. Vibhu officially pulls the plug!
6. The new mud room fridge should stay below freezing for the next few months. We haven't quite worked out what we will do once the spring and summer roll around, but we've got some time to figure it out. Suggestions?
7. One more step towards environmentalism. Done and done!
Interested to see what other like-minded folks are doing out there? Check out some of my favorites.
Hey there, green girl. You’re an inspiration to many. You should be very proud! And I can just imagine how proud your Dad is… I’m so happy to see how wonderful you and Vibhu are doing. You both look very happy. And that makes me happy. So, thanks! Hope to hear from you soon.
Love it – especially the last picture with the UCD sweatshirt. Best of luck – I cannot WAIT to hear how spring/summer without a refrigerator go.
Ummmmmmm I think it is considered animal cruelty with the kitty in the freezer hahahahahahaha
Way to go you two…how exciting. It will be interesting to see the diff in your el bill. Love you
Dona and Vibhu I am so proud of you guys!! This is so wonderful…I wish that I was in a place where I could do that but a mud room is definitely going on my requirements for my next house!! Good job…I look forward to hearing all the details about this!!!