Released: May 10, 2008

Avacado appliances probably aren’t green

Source: Alina Tugend, New York Times (Free Registration)

I don’t know about you, but I’m a little tired of the whole green thing. Not the idea that Americans need to sharply cut their energy use (the words carbon footprint will not pass my lips). And not the idea that there are some relatively painless actions we can all take that will help — although I know real change will not be made without real sacrifice.

But I am growing a little cynical about the consumption-oriented part of the movement, the urging to buy our way out of environmental problems. From organic jeans to compact fluorescent light bulbs, it is getting harder and harder to know what represents genuine progress and what is a marketing gimmick.

Take my refrigerator (please!). It is 10 years old and is a side-by-side, which wastes more energy than one with a freezer on the top or the bottom. It has a water and ice dispenser in the door, which is also a no-no for energy conservation. And it was made before 2001, when the most recent federal energy-efficiency standards for refrigerators went into effect.

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