While recuperating from hip replacement surgery, I am visiting my mother here in the Greater Seattle Area. While here, we have been arguing over plenty of issues-as many people do with their aging parents. Most of ours have been around issues of hoarding and waste. One big issue has centered around buying things that you do not need and that will end up in landfill. Our biggest debates have been around perishables. My mother is in her 80′s and still buys food in bulk from Costco. While in the hospital, my sister decided to do a little housecleaning, and removed all of her food that was well past its expiration. Then, as if on cue, her old refrigerator finally gave up the ghost. Now, buying a new appliance can be stressful enough, but doing it with a recuperating senior with control issues is a flat out ordeal.
Fortunately, though there are plenty of programs for Snohomish County, Washington. Right now, she was able to cash in on a $75 rebate from the state, as well as a $50 rebate from the PUD of the county. These rebates are tied to the purchase of a new refrigerator that are Energy Star rated. Similar rebates are available for other home appliances. After making her choice and arranging for delivery we returned home to find out that there is also a program for the recycling of the old refrigerator. With a 5 minute phone call an appointment was scheduled for pick up by Jaco Environmental. For upgrading to an energy efficient new appliance and having them pick this one up, she gets an additional $30rebate. This company will take your old fridge, drain all of the old refrigerant, and tear it apart. Usable parts are put back to work. Then the internal pieces are all separated and recycled-insulation and all. I have to give the guys who picked up this old fridge a big shout out. They were friendly, fast and polite.
They also came with a great environmental pack. In it was a water saving showerhead, a water saving faucet aerator, a water aerator with an off switch, two CFL bulbs and a handful of handy literature on how to save energy and water. It was an expected gift. When you add this to her $155 in rebates, and the 10% off Energy Star promotion she found at Home Depot, and the monthly savings in energy consumption, this new refrigerator will pay for itself in no time.
