Our home is earth, and houses don’t litter…

You like to live in a world with black pipes?

And it’s not true that nothing depends on us.

There’s a lot we can do.

We can choose eco-friendly technology. We don’t have to throw batteries and appliances in the trash. We can avoid buying household chemicals with phosphates.

We can simply turn off the faucet, so the water doesn’t flow in vain. We can just turn off the lights in an empty room.

Of course, it’s a drop in the ocean, but the ocean also consists of drops.

What’s good?

The main thing in any technology is its safety. And not only electrical, but also electromagnetic, for example. In addition to technical characteristics, correct operation and even the placement of household appliances in the apartment becomes important.

Eco-friendliness is a trend. Manufacturers are in a real race to make their products “clean” and energy efficient. But is all machinery really environmentally friendly?

Equally important is the safety of the materials from which the appliance is made. Even water purified by the best filter but boiled in a kettle made of toxic plastic, at least, ceases to be useful.

Or take another example: Washing natural clothes with synthetic detergent can cause allergic reactions. So how do you know what is truly safe?

Trust, but verify

The simplest and most hackneyed advice – to buy appliances from manufacturers with a name – remains relevant.

And it is not necessary to choose the most expensive items, because the price is not always an indicator of quality. To “sell” to a gullible customer at an inflated price a “real German appliance” made in China is not considered shameful here.

It’s possible to find decent equipment in the economy class as well, the main thing is the manufacturer’s reputation, backed up by concrete steps and measures.

The Global Compact and the Green Series

If you take a look at the websites of reputable manufacturers, you’re almost certain to find a section on environmental protection. Some companies designate a number of their appliances as “green” series, putting a special label on them.

Other corporations make long term commitments to replace unhealthy materials and reduce harmful emissions, etc.d.

And the EU directives are getting tougher on a number of aspects, which also makes companies think about the environmental side of the issue. Even the United Nations has not been spared.

Thus, among the principles of the Global Compact*, which was initiated by the UN and continues to be signed by thousands of companies from around the world, the measures aimed at protecting the environment are highlighted. Here they are:

– “the business community should support a precautionary approach to environmental issues

– the business community must undertake initiatives aimed at increasing environmental responsibility

– Businesses should encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.”.

* The Global Compact provides a framework for businesses that want to align their operations with a strategy based on ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. Created in 2000.

Among manufacturers of household appliances, there are many companies from around the world who have signed this document.

And we have been cheated again?

In 2009, the European Committee of Appliance Manufacturers CECED together with the European Commission initiated and implemented the ATLETE project – Appliance Testing for Energy Label Evaluation.

The goal of the project is to strengthen the control system in the EU and to raise the importance of appliance energy efficiency as a factor influencing purchasing decisions.

This label means the product or package is made from recycled material Recycled and is recyclable.

On April 12, 2011, the organizers of the project, together with representatives of the CECED Committee, announced the results of their examination during EU Sustainable Energy Week in Brussels.

Subjects were refrigerators, freezers, and fridge-freezer combinations.

The 80 samples chosen were purchased from various EU countries to ensure the most objective results. The range of devices tested included 48 brands from 40 manufacturers.

The appliances were tested in four carefully selected test labs.

The results of measurements showed that about 84 percent of appliances have the correct specifications energy efficiency class .

However, 13 percent of the samples of appliances had an inflated energy efficiency class, and on the label, about 3 percent of the samples had a declared energy efficiency class two or more levels higher than the actual.

Across all five criteria, measurements showed a deviation rate of about 53 percent of appliances in total!

Many of the detected deviations were related to the incorrect indication of the useful volume of the refrigerating and freezing chamber, the cooling temperature or the freezing capacity. For the 13 remaining pieces of equipment, measurements have not yet been completed.

Small tricks and big money

How much electricity a refrigerator, for example, consumes, we’ve written about more than once.

And how does an electric kettle affect energy consumption?? At an average power of 1.5 kW, a volume of 1.7 liters can be heated in 5-7 minutes. That’s the equivalent of 0.25 kW per hour.

Multiply by three that’s a minimum, don’t you agree . In a day, you get about 0.75 kW per hour in addition to other electrical appliances. In a month, depending on the season, about 28-30 kW, and per year about 360 kW per hour, or almost 600 Dollars. per month.

The recyclable plastic label. Stands for plastic products that can be recycled industrially.

The solution is not to heat the full volume, because by pouring the exact amount of water, we save both time and money. And doctors recommend using fresh water instead of heating it twice or three times.

It’s true of all appliances: little tricks not only save you money on your energy bill, which is also important, but they also ultimately reduce your impact on the environment.

Better not to go to the landfill

Another important aspect: recycling the materials used.

Let’s do the math: it takes about 500Wh to produce one kilogram of plastic. Plastic recycling requires 10 times less energy. And this is thousands of tons of coal, which are not burned and smoke the sky. And landfills aren’t as bloated with garbage as they could be..

A sign for different types of packaging materials, paper or cardboard products that can either be produced from recycled or recycled materials.

Our country produces about 90 million tons of waste – a third of it is old packaging. Mostly it is paper and cardboard, which can easily get a second life in the form of the same packaging cardboard.

And the demand for it is constantly growing, since different environmental regulations, standards and rules are constantly toughening.

It is not difficult to identify energy-saving appliances and packaging made of recycled cardboard in stores: already in 1992, a special marking was adopted in Europe for the most environmentally friendly products that have less impact on the environment and also save energy.

Keep your country clean!

Editorial Board of “CONSUMER” magazine.Household Appliances” thanks:

to the SEB Tefal Rowenta Krups Moulinex Global Contractor for the information provided

Saturn Hi-Tech AG Lasko for providing materials

to BSH Appliances Bosch/Siemens for providing information about the ATLETE project.

Interesting notes