'Beer fridges' present a gassy problem

http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn12975-beer-fridges-present-a-gassy-problem.html

Getting rid of vintage “beer fridges” – secondary fridges which many North American and Australian homes boast – could have a significant impact on household greenhouse gas emissions, suggests a new study.

Beer fridges are additional fridges that are generally used to keep beer and other drinks cold on top of a household’s primary fridge for food. One in three Canadian households has a second fridge, many of which are ageing, energy-guzzling models, according to Denise Young, a researcher at the University of Alberta, Canada.

Young suggests that getting rid of older models, in Canada at least, would have an impact on energy usage. Her study analyses industry data and the results of a national survey to look at the environmental effects of having beer fridges in Canada.

"People need to understand the impact of their lifestyles," says Joanna Yarrow, director of Beyond Green, a sustainable development consultancy in the UK. "Clearly the environmental implications of having a frivolous luxury like a beer fridge are not hitting home. This research helps inform people – let's hope it has an effect".

<more>

My diet actually improved when I couldn't simply stuff foods and drinks into the fridge that were not particularly healthy for me.

But my wife and kids are never going to buy that argument.

:shrug:

It's not something I ever tried. You say you did without one for a while? What was it like?

We also had a vegetarian Thanksgiving once, but that completely freaked out my dad's parents, so we never did it again. My parents are not much concerned about how other people do things, they follow their own path.

When I was single I never had a stable living situation, and even ended up living in my car or on peoples' sofas a few times. Whenever I had a place I could call my own, a room in a house maybe, or a shack in a yard, even if there was a fridge I wouldn't keep anything there. And in some of the places, some not so nice situations, housemates would steal food in the fridge and then shrug it off through intimidation. (Hmmmm, looking back again, my life a single young man sorta sucked...)

Anyways, it doesn't take a refrigerator to eat. You can do almost anything with canned or dry food and fresh fruits and vegetables. The only real trick is judging how hungry you are (or your family is) because if there are any leftovers you'll have to compost them or feed them to the dogs. If you undershoot a bit on your estimates, you simply make up the difference with snacks, preferably something good for you, but in our family the most common make-up food was toasted sourdough bread & butter.

I used to make sourdough bread, and also buttermilk out of the inexpensive dry milk you could get in any bad neighborhood, but my wife doesn't like either of those things.

and ice being several miles away and expensive I'm sure there weren't much refrigerating going on when I was a little kid. If it wasn't for the tit I would have had to drink milnot or pets evaporated milk I'm sure

owning-energy-conserving spouse a copy of this report.

That way when any neighbors need a beer they know where it is.

It's also easy to find when they have to pee while lounging around the firepit.