Whole Foods, Bosch Target Old Refrigerators

Whole Foods Market and Bosch Home Appliances have launched a 30-day campaign called “Make a Green Change,” part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s national Energy Star Make a Cool Change effort, with the aim of getting consumers to replace old refrigerators and freezers with more energy efficient models.

The campaign includes a “Make a Green Change: 30 Ways in 30 Days” calendar – given away at Whole Foods – and a microsite at www.wholefoodsmarket.com/earthmonth that provides info on refrigerator recycling. Whole Foods’ “Recycle Your Old Refrigerator Sweepstakes” is giving away Bosch Evolution refrigerators, stuffed with foods from Whole Foods Market.

Some numbers:

– U.S. households have 44.5 million fridges over 10 years old, 12.7 million of which are secondary units. Of this total, 6.1 million primary and 4.1 million second refrigerators are at least 20 years old.

– 16.9 million homes have freezers more than 10 years old – that’s 44 percent of all freezers.