Hmmmmmm.....  

I'd do the math on the electricity usage
Compare what your existing fridge uses to what the replacement would use. There's a device for measuring usage called a kill-a-watt that you can use to measure what your existing fridge uses. If the difference is significant, say 25% or more, I'd switch. That's assuming of course that you can get your old fridge to a recycling location. There's a fair amount of metal that can be reclaimed, especially from the older units. Link to a kill-a-watt is below. There is a video embedded in the product page that shows you how the device works.
http://store.altenergystore.com/Meters-Communications-Site-Analysis/Mete...

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Thanks Olive. One other thing that realy really really drives me very very very mad is lawns.
I hate grass (yes both kinds) its a foolish keep up with the neighbours time wasting ecological desert that pours fertilizers into the catchment and makes everyones saturday afternoons a complete bore or amounts to extreme irritation for the neighbours.
There is a mower doing its thing right now where I am and it is making it totally impossible for me to concentrate on work.
People could have a small patch of grass with a little hand push mower and give the rest of the garden over to native shrubs and trees which require a lot less maintenance and encourage the birds and lizards and whatever else. Who care if its not keeping up with the Jones'? Kill the Jones' or bring them down to your level.
I hate two stroke engines of any type more than much else I can think of, ARRRRGGGHHHHH!

Over here
its gas-powered leafblowers. No rakes or brooms for OUR laborers. . .oh, no. God forbid anyone should get exercise, except in a gym. . .

yup
we have those god awful contraptions aswell, I saw one being used a while ago, this idiot in the city was blowing all sorts of litter into the stormwater drain with one.
What is wrong with brooms? or hedge clippers? They must just be too quiet and sensible for 21st century morons.
Getting really cranky about this, these devices and the way that people are running up and down leafy suburban streets in these vile 4wds are making perfectly decent places to live into sewers of waste and noise.
And why is now acceptable to have conversations and drink coffee in libraries?
We had much better lifestyles before that bloody word came along.

I wonder
if the way we feel around a person squawking on her swell phone in public might be symbolic of the broader frustrations we are experiencing now: public indifference/rudeness in general, whether on the road or on the sidewalk. While people are still civil when required to be, in face-to-face interaction, the me-first aggressiveness exhibited by anonymous drivers and pedestrians is something new, in my lifetime. This lack of respect is reflected in some of the behaviors mentioned above, having to do with noise pollution. Others have spoken of light pollution, with outdoors lights invading their neighbor's homes, etc. . .

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in my lifetime aswell, and I'm 32.
I just don't know why people are behaving like this, greed and group think.
Their punishment is being them! Can you imagine these peoples lives? Kids to soccer at 9.00, blow leaves off lawn at 10.00 am, back in the car to the supermarket and shopping mall 11.00 am - 12-30, watch sport on the idiot box for two hours, eat a lot of rubbish, turn the airconditioner on, wash clothes but don't bother hanging them out just stick it in the drier!
I know this isn't very constructive, just a rant !

I
like the drivers who honk angrily at people who hold them up even the slightest bit, and/or honk at someone after the fact. Ugh.
It's possible that, having become used to an ever-increasing immediacy of fulfillment -- the so-called instant gratification factor -- we've become intolerant of any delay at all. Will this only get worse ?

If you're serious about sustainablility...
...and low eco-impact, then you should go to a thrift shop and buy an old chair or table or dresser or lamp the next time you need one. Something that's already been made, and therefore won't contribute any new waste materials or pollutants or toxins from its manufacture.
I do more to save the environment by driving my rusty 19-year old Toyota van than I would by buying a new Prius. A few less MPG is more than a fair trade-off for all the plastic and metal and rubber not used, and all the chemicals not consumed, and all the minig/logging/drilling not done to make a new car.
On the other hand, if you just want to feel virtuous, then sure, go ahead and buy some "eco-friendly" product.
FREEDOM THROUGH SHOPPING!

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I advocate mulching the more flagrant abusers of our resources and turning them into fertiliser.

On mowers and blowers...
Oh yes...we've not yet discussed the long list of stupid products that flagrantly waste fuel for little to no reason. Mowers do have a use but there are electric and human powered versions that would do the job just fine. It would also help if folks only had lawns in the eco systems where lawns are normal. I'm happy to say my yard isn't and doesn't. We don't own a mower and we let Mother Nature take care of most of the leaves!
However there are a lot of other awful fuel guzzling evils out there...
Skimobiles
ATV's (I hate these most of all)
Skidoos
Motocross bikes
RC planes/helicopters (big boy toys)
Traveling carnivals
Water Parks
Ice skating rinks (espcially in warm climates!)
Oh I could go on and on and on...

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just reading that apparantly people who live alone (men aged 25-45, like me) are the worst offenders and sharing a house is much better. Eeek, but I'm a terrible housemate.
City/suburb/regional/rural ? Where is the best place to live? I have a suspicion for efficiency it it a large city with good PT, anyone got an ideas?

Heath
Dont feel bad about living alone. One of my roommates cranks the heat whenever I turn my back, buys all kinds of cheap disposable crap (I'm currently waging a war against this wretched WalMart floor fan that is heaped, useless, in the hallway) and the other roommate who drives 8 blocks to work and guzzles a case of bottled water a week. Sometimes I would much rather live by myself 😉

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cheers, hell really is other people isn't it?
Its so difficult to know what to say to people in those situations without upsetting the delicate ecology of housemate diplomacy.
Its a bit like being vegetarian, a lot of people take your choices as a personal affront.

That's
one that really apalls: taking offense at what other people choose to eat. I mean -- what ?

Hmmmm...Olive
i think you...
Hmmmm...Olive
i think you need a Hmmmm.. II, !!!, !V etc.
this forum does not have pages like some others.
(my neighbor uses his gas leaf blower year round to blow out his garage once a week)
affordable solar options? not the junky Home Depot 'runway' path lights.
most seem to be geared toward RV use. Must be something for ambient evening interior/exterior of lasting quality. most i have researched look like they would crap out
after a year creating more disposables...