Southern California Edison Helps Spring Cleaning Efforts
Rosemaid , CA : Spring is in the air. The old energy-hog refrigerator is in the garage. To help customers save energy and money on their electricity bills, Southern California Edison (SCE) offers $50 and free pickup to recycle inefficient refrigerators and freezers.
“We’ve helped Southern Californians recycle nearly a million refrigerators. It’s one of the easiest ways to help the environment and to help keep costs down,” said Gene Rodrigues, SCE’s director of Energy Efficiency and Customer Solar. “An extra, old fridge uses twice the energy as a newer model and can waste about $180 a year keeping a six-pack of soda cold.”
Smart shoppers can couple the $50 recycling incentive with SCE’s $50 rebate for buying a new ENERGY STAR-qualified refrigerator. The $50 recycling incentive also can be donated to SCE’s Energy Assistance Fund, which provides grants to customers who are having trouble paying their bills.
Refrigerator Recycling Facts
A refrigerator uses about 19 percent of a household’s electricity, more than any other appliance.
A refrigerator or freezer bought before 1993 can use up to 50 percent more than a new Energy Star-qualified model.
Replacing a 10-year-old refrigerator with a new ENERGY STAR-qualified model saves enough energy to light the average household for 45 days.
Disposing of refrigerators in landfills is against California law; proper recycling of the foam insulation and refrigerant in the cooling circuit can prevent the equivalent atmospheric release of up to five tons of carbon dioxide. Nearly all refrigerator parts and fluids can be recycled.
For more on how to recycle your refrigerator or freezer, and how to get the $50 rebate for buying a new ENERGY STAR-labeled unit, please visit www.sce.com/save or call (800) 810-2015.
About Southern California Edison:
An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population of nearly 14 million via 4.9 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within Central, Coastal and Southern California. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/socaledison.
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