Shut the door and save energy

Friends tell me they hear their mother or father when they talk to their own children.

Thankfully I’ve not had that happen much, but one thing I DO yell to Little Miss Green is “DOOR!” as she passes through like a whirlwind leaving all doors open behind her as if she was born in a field with an open gate…

And this week, Small Footprints is encouraging me to shout this even more with our Change the World Wednesday Challenge.

It’s not just any old door, however.

We’re focusing on the refrigerator and freezer doors.

Now for the past couple of weeks I’ve had to hold my hand up in surrender about some of the challenges. I’ve failed miserably or hit a brick wall.

Fortunately I think I can hold my head up high for this one!

Our fridge and freezer are in a separate room built off the kitchen; a kind of out-building if you like. There is no heating, so it’s not very warm in these which means my appliances don’t take a lot of electricity to run. It’s a big difference to having your freezer in a hot kitchen!

The suggestion Small Footprints wrote was “This week be very mindful of opening the refrigerator and freezer. Resist browsing the contents and/or “grazing”. Close the door rather than hold it open while you pour a glass of juice or quickly use an item to be returned to the shelf. When you must open the doors, minimize the time and shut them as quickly as possible. ”

Now I don’t know if it’s just me, but grazing at the fridge isn’t something we do – any of us. I guess we just know what we’re going in there to get and we get it! The only time the door is held open for any length of time is when I’m restocking it after going shopping.

This brings me back to one of my earlier posts where I came up with, even though I say so myself, a brilliant energy-saving suggestion. And in all honesty it’s a no brainer.

Why not produce domestic fridges and freezers with glass doors? Just like the ones you get in the food stores?

Then you can see what you want BEFORE you open the door.

So while I won’t be giving Mr Green a new project to do any time soon – I’m just not sure even he could knock up a couple of air-tight glass doors, I’m giving myself an A for effort this week. Phew!

What about you – are your a fridge grazer?