Tools for Communities
TO-DO LISTS, TOOLS and TEMPLATES -
Refrigerants Solutions TO-DO List from the NY4Cool webinar Solutions for the Super GHGs Lurking All Around Us
The ABCs of HFCs A short, adaptable article explaining the basics for communities
Press Release on Utility Rebates An article explaining how local utilities give rebates for old working refrigerators
Press Release Template A template to create your own press release about utility company rebates for old refrigerators and freezers
Letter: Getting rid of old refrigerators A good step to fight climate change
Climate Friendly Cooling Campaign A tool for finding energy efficient products that use climate-friendly refrigerants
FOOD RETAILER PROGRAMS & TOOLS -
Green America Cool It Campaign Letter writing campaign focused on larger food retailers starting with Walmart
EPA GreenChill Partnership EPA partnership with food retailers to reduce refrigerant emissions and decrease their impact on the ozone layer and climate change
EIA Climate Friendly Scorecard EIA rated the biggest U.S. supermarkets on their actions to reduce emissions of super pollutant hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Each company is scored on actions in three categories of technology adoption, refrigerant management, and policy & commitment
EIA Climate-Friendly Supermarket Citizen Investigation EIA is asking everyone to become a citizen investigator by taking pictures in local grocery stores of the specs plates in refrigeration equipment and uploading the images for a national compilation about these intense greenhouse gases
LOCAL PROJECTS & CAMPAIGNS -
The Coolest Recycling Drive During Earth Week 2023, volunteers for Sustainable Warwick completed the Coolest Recycling Drive, a novel and effective climate action. Pushed by frustration over how slowly the climate crisis is being addressed, during a two-week period they prevented the equivalent of nearly half a million pounds of CO2 emissions on a 20-year time frame and sent more than two tons of metals for recycling, all for a net cost of about $900.
Bard College Grant for Replicable Appliance Collection Drives Bard College received a grant from Second Nature’s Climate Solutions Acceleration Fund to support a project of Bard’s Office of Sustainability to create collection drives for items that contain refrigerants, while aiming to map the ecosystem of refrigerants management in both Ulster and Dutchess counties. The goal was to establish a process that can then be replicated. This story board explains how the drive worked out.
Philipstown’s Refrigerant Management Program With funds raised through Philipstown’s participation in Hudson Valley Community Power’s “Community Solar” Sustainability Fund, the program covers recovery of refrigerants from window a/cs, refrigerators, freezers and dehumidifiers. See the mailer here.
Warwick’s Coolest Recycling Drive Sustainable Warwick planned the Coolest Recycling Drive of 2020, which is on hold due to the pandemic. The drive will cover the recycling fee for all participants and hold several local drop-off events in Warwick. A pickup truck brigade will go to homes of people who are unable to schlep their appliances to a drop-off site.
PODCASTS & PRESENTATIONS -
Podcast: Refrigerants - Carbon Emissions on Steroids with Christina Starr, Senior Policy Analyst at Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).
Podcast from Bard College with Manik Suri, founder and CEO of Therma, about an interesting form of refrigeration monitoring.
Podcast: Cold Hard Cash for Your Greenhouse Gas In an early episode of How to Save a Planet: “We take a ride with a couple of guys who tackle these climate threats with a pair of extremely high-tech tools: a van, and some cold hard cash. Then, we talk about the climate solution you could be interacting with every time you buy ice cream.”
Refrigerants 101: Webinar Learn the facts about refrigerants, how to safely manage them, and the beneficial role they play in electrifying our buildings via geothermal heat pumps to get our buildings and homes off fossil fuels.