By Steven Chen
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Rest in peace Frigidaire Model #FRS26R4AW6. After 6 years of unwavering service, my side-by-side refrigerator has finally lost its cool. Going for more than week without a refrigerator has given both me and my family a wake-up call to examine the ramifications of such a device, plugged in 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

In the midst of a green revolution, many people and the government have stepped up the criteria for what qualifies as “good” for the environment. The incapacitated state my fridge is in right now has me thinking how much energy it really uses up.

I checked with energystar.gov, the government-managed Web site that rates appliances according to their energy efficiency, and saw that switching to a more efficient fridge would save approximately $105 over a five-year period. Really, that’s all?

With all the troubles in today’s society, people point out all sorts of causes, which in turn confuse the government so much that it cannot focus on completing a single aspect of reform. The world is warming up, but the rest is still debatable. Activist groups claim that we can do our part by using energy-efficient light bulbs and appliances, but, in the end, would it make a significant difference? Sure the little things that people do every day add up, but there are bigger issues at stake.

More important that replacing light bulbs or appliances is establishing a cleaner energy and fuel source. According the CIA’s World Factbook, the United States consumed 19,500,000 barrels of oil per day in 2008. Not only is this the major contributing factor to the earth’s temperature rise, but it also causes billions of dollars lost to foreign nations in a time of economic turmoil.

Not only does a refrigerator consume electricity, but its physical mass requires both plastic and steel as its backbone. I tried to move the fridge, which thankfully had wheels, but it was a slow job. The mere weight of the fridge implies an extensive amount of metal and plastic used to build it.

The amount of plastic used to produce such a hefty machine got me thinking again. Where would the scrap metal and plastic go after we got rid of the hunk, and how would the plastic damage the environment.

Plastic is a synthetic polymer, made of strands of artificial fibers. It is not natural and therefore incompatible with the planet’s ecosystems. Most plastics never disintegrate and ones that do take over half a century. It is then imperative to regulate recycling plastic bottles and other plastic goods.

Not only is it harmful to the planet, but it is also harmful to our bodies as well. According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 92% of Americans age 6 or older tested positive for BPA, a component of many plastics. This prevalence in the human body, though it may be below threshold levels of exposure, certainly show the impact plastic has already made, for good or ill.

So when my family needed to quickly buy a new fridge, we considered these two major factors along with price and specifications. We all need to stop and think about the true nature of maintaining a healthy environment, especially when considering hefty decisions.