Did you know there's a secret climate killer lurking in your kitchen? Yes, that's your cooling devices like fridges. These refrigerators contain greenhouse gases more potent than carbon dioxide. Some are thousands of times worse! Released in the atmosphere they accelerate global warming. And not only fridges, most appliances that keep things cool use these refrigerants. They also created the hole in the ozone layer. Managing refrigerants could do morae to combat global warming than the combination of solar power on an industrial scale and over 100 times as many electric vehicles. So what's the correct way to dispose of an old fridge? And are there any alternatives to these secret climate killers? Let's find out.

The properties that make refrigerants good at keeping things cool is exactly what why they are bad for the climate. Greenhouse gases are essentially heat trapping gases. Hydro fluoro carbons are what we currently have as the prominent form of refrigerant gases. They are hundreds to thousands of times more potent gas than carbon dioxide. So they're thousands of times better at trapping heat. And so that's why they make really good and effective refrigerants. Cooling things down has always been tricky, even before we knew about global warming.  As the planet warms, people use more coolant every year.

Meanwhile, we know natural options are more climate friendly. Remember ammonia? It has a global warming potential of 0. Then there's hydrocarbon, which has the global warming potential of 3. There's also carbon dioxide, which has a global warming potential of 1. Now, ammonia makes you faint, and hydrocarbons are flammable. But technology has improved significantly to address these issues. Also, the new generation of synthetic refrigerants are only made by certain chemical companies. Natural ones could be more widely produced. 

Then there's another issue that's their disposal, which is very important. So what can you do with an old appliance? If it still works, you can donate it to an NGO. If you need a new appliance, you can give old one back to the manufacturer. Some producers accept old refrigerators even without the purchase of a new one. The other option is to recycle it. You can take your fridge and drop it at a recycling centre, and they will send it on to a recycling plant. But this is step isn't as straight forward as you'd think.

This is why both the switch to alternative refrigerants and legislation on recovering them are so important. Raising awareness is also key.