Live in the U.S. and want a green freezer? Go to your local Ben & Jerry’s and find out the score on their experiment to use deep freezers no one else in the U.S. is allowed to use. Yesterday, the owners of Ben & Jerry’s inaugurated the first of 2,000 so called ‘Greenfreeze’ appliances in their Georgetown outlet.
They have special dispensation from the Environmental Protection Agency to try out the Greenfreeze technology. This technology is not new at all. It’s simply that U.S. authorities haven’t gotten ’round to greenlighting it yet, even though it was introduced to the rest of the world in 1992. Greenpeace estimates that 40% of all the deepfreezers in use around the globe use green technology that’s outlawed in the US.
So what’s the deal with Ben & Jerry’s, you might wonder? Well, an overview is given in the video (see below) that was shot of the inauguration ceremony conducted by both Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield but it seems to be the case that if there are no serious problems, ordinary U.S. citizens finally, at long last, can get them too.
The Greenfreeze technology eliminates usage of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). HFC, also known as an F-gas, is a greenhouse gas variant 1,400 times as damaging to the environment as CO2, so it’s probably rather good if you decide to immediately dispose of that ugly looking thing in your garage/basement/kitchen and buy a proper one. You likely won’t be the only one to do so but your chances of ending up in a throng of consumers demanding their green freezer depend on how this project pans out. Cleantechnica reports that f-gas are among “the most dangerous greenhouse gases that you’ve probably never heard of” so lets hope it does.
However, Greenpeace is in on the project as well. Elsewhere in the world, this environment organization is running a rather successful campaign promoting greenfreeze technology. Greenpeace now will target U.S. citizens with information, hoping that American homes and businesses will switch freezers en masse, just like they swapped their Hummers for Priuses.
Check out this video of the inauguration of the Greenfreeze in Georgetown:
