SPOKANE, Wash. - Members from Avista Utilities visited Sheridan Elementary School Thursday, to tear apart a refrigerator. The demonstration is called "filet-o-fridge," and is meant to teach kids and adults alike about efficiency and how things work.
During the demonstration, Avista explained that the age of your refrigerator could have an impact on your utility bill.
According to Avista, the older the refrigerator, the more money you could be wasting.
Older, less efficient appliances are not as equipped to reduce energy costs or conserve natural resources, which are two things that ultimately save you money, according to Avista. A new refrigerator that does both of those things could save you nearly $100 on energy bills, according to Avista.
Thursday, Avista literally tore apart an old refrigerator to demonstrate exactly why a new refrigerator is the way to go in the long run.
Avista also showed how some materials inside your refrigerator are harmful to the environment. Those harmful components are also why Avista stressed the importance of disposing of your refrigerator the correct way, if you upgrade to a new one.
"At Avista, we have programs to save energy, which might benefit customers who have an old fridge sitting in the garage that's not being used much, but is using up a lot of energy," said Avista's Energy Efficiency Manager Chris Drake. "We can help remove that off the electric system and also recycle all those materials, put them back to use."
Avista said that 95% of a refrigerator can be reused after it is recycled. They also said that 200 pounds of material goes right back to the manufacturing stream.
If you want to get rid of your old refrigerator, Avista offers a recycling program. When you recycle it through Avista, the company will give you a check for $30. To learn more about the recycling program click here.
