Many of us who have smartphones find ourselves using them frequently throughout the day. Everything you do, or your phone does in the background, takes energy. Here are some ideas to save energy while enjoying your smartphone.
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It’s very important to dispose of old refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, and heat pumps properly, so that the refrigerant chemicals inside are not released to the atmosphere. For the same reason, it is important that these systems are properly maintained and repaired when necessary. Refrigerants are the chemicals in refrigerators, freezers, and air conditioners that allow the system to cool your house or car. One of these chemicals, chlorofluorocarbon-12, the original Freon refrigerant, was found to deplete the ozone layer around the earth. After its use was banned world-wide (the US ban took effect in 1994), the ozone layer began to heal, although it will still require decades to fully recover. Freon is also a powerful greenhouse gas. Many refrigerators, freezers, and air conditioners still contain Freon-12. A newer version, R-22 is a hydrochlorofluorocarbon that has less impact on the ozone layer but is also a greenhouse gas. Manufacture and import of R-22 is still allowed in the US until January 1, 2020. The replacement chemicals, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), do not destroy ozone but the most common are up to 2000 times as potent as carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, according to the EPA. Still newer replacement chemicals are being developed but are not yet in widespread use.
Some ideas to keep these chemicals out of the atmosphere:
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