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Cool It for Climate
Urge supermarkets to cut super pollutants that accelerate the climate crisis.
Tell Walmart: Cool It for the Climate
Walmart refrigeration is leaking harmful climate pollutants - tell them to Cool It.
We're telling companies to cut dangerous HFC emissions — starting with Walmart and Trader Joe's.
Campaign Updates
Over 100,000 people joined us to demand that Walmart eliminate its highly potent refrigerant emissions – and Walmart has finally announced that it will transition to “low-impact” refrigerants by 2040.
But two decades is too long to wait when communities are facing devastation from the climate crisis today.
We’re urging Walmart to meet the scale of this crisis and to release a detailed plan to cut its refrigerant emissions on a more aggressive timeline.
Trader Joe’s has a particularly bad history of emitting refrigerant gases that hurt the climate and the ozone, and the company doesn’t follow best practices in reporting its current refrigerant use. The good news is, it’s pretty easy to find out.
That’s why we’re working with our friends at the Environmental Investigation Agency to crowdsource photos of refrigerant labels at your local Trader Joe’s!
Investigate Your Local Trader Joe's
The Problem
Appliances we use to keep cool are leaking gases that warm our atmosphere at a shocking rate.
Refrigerators and air conditioning units humming along are easy to overlook...but substances called refrigerants that are used in these appliances to keep things cool are melting the ice caps.
Refrigerants transform from liquid to gas and back continually as they cycle through coils in appliances, absorbing heat and promoting cooling. The most common refrigerants are greenhouse gases called hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are intensifying the climate crisis.
HFCs have thousands of times more warming power than CO2.
These harmful, human-made gases are leaking out of refrigeration systems and rapidly entering our atmosphere. As we do the crucial work of cutting CO2 emissions, we must also address dangerous, extremely potent HFCs.
Eliminating HFCs and adopting climate-friendly refrigerants is a top solution to address the climate crisis that can prevent nearly half a degree of global warming. Better cooling can help prevent 460 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years.
Best Practices for Safe Appliance Disposal
Climate Impacts of Supermarkets
Supermarkets use a lot of energy, and up to 60 percent is used for cooling and heating systems. But the largest climate impacts come from the refrigerants themselves.
A typical supermarket consumes 4,000 pounds of refrigerants each year with a quarter leaking out due to faulty systems.
Refrigerant leaks from US supermarkets emit 45 million metric tons of greenhouse gases every year (the equivalent of 9.5 million cars on the road).
To address this issue, companies must commit to:
- Using only HFC-free systems in all new locations;
- Releasing concrete timelines to phase out HFCs from all facilities by 2030;
- Rapidly repairing refrigerant leaks and publishing annual leak rates;
- And ensuring responsible refrigerant disposal to reduce emissions.
A few supermarkets have made progress in tackling HFCs but far too many are lagging.
Find a Climate-friendly Supermarket
Why Walmart & Trader Joe's
Walmart’s annual HFC emissions are over three million metric tons, or the energy equivalent of powering all the households in San Francisco.
Walmart has failed to honor past agreements to address HFCs, even though they make up nearly half of the company’s total direct emissions.
The company's new goal is not specific or aggressive enough to meet the scale of the climate crisis. Walmart has known the urgency of this issue for years but has not taken serious steps to put its words into action.
We’re calling on Walmart to finally release a detailed, aggressive plan to eliminate its use of super pollutants HFCs.
Tell Walmart to Cool It for the Climate
Trader Joe’s has a bad record of emitting refrigerant gases that hurt the climate and the ozone. It received the lowest score on EIA’s Climate-Friendly Supermarket Scorecard, which assessed the company on its insufficient action to reduce the use and emission of HFCs.
Additionally, Trader Joe's doesn't publicly report its climate emissions or social responsibility practices, as many other large companies do to show progress towards commitments.
Green America and Environmental Investigation Agency have teamed up to hold Trader Joe's accountable for its poor climate and labor practices and lack of transparency.
Tell Trader Joe's: Don't Discount Our Future
Highly potent greenhouse gases called HFCs are leaking out of Walmart facilities and contribute nearly half of Walmart’s emissions.
by Ayate Temsamani, Former Green America Climate Fellow
How supermarkets can reduce harmful pollutants that escalate climate change.
Best practices to reduce harmful HFC emissions.
Victory
Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized the first new climate rule of the Biden-Harris Administration tackling hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), super pollutant greenhouse gases used for refrigerants. HFCs have hundreds to thousands of…
Green Living
Walmart refrigeration is leaking harmful climate pollutants - tell them to Cool It. We are urging Walmart to phase out harmful HFCs by 2030, reduce its refrigerant leaks, and commit to responsible disposal.
Take Action
Trader Joe's needs to answer for its poor labor and climate practices and lack of transparency. Join us in holding them accountable!
Join Green America and our partners in calling on the world’s ten biggest chocolate companies, including Hershey, Godiva, Mars, and Nestle, to finally put an end to child labor in cocoa and an end to deforestation!
Walmart refrigeration is leaking harmful climate pollutants - tell them to Cool It. We are urging Walmart to phase out harmful HFCs by 2030, reduce its refrigerant leaks, and commit to responsible disposal.
Latest News
Walmart stores are leaking potent greenhouse gases that accelerate the climate crisis.
These gases are called HFCs and they have thousands of times the warming power of carbon dioxide. HFCs are…
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Supermarkets are leaking potent greenhouse gases called HFCs from refrigeration and it’s a huge climate problem.
In fact, refrigerant leaks from U.S. supermarkets are the emissions equivalent of adding 9.5…
Green America’s Cool It! campaign tackles the climate disaster hiding in our refrigerators by urging companies to eliminate the use of greenhouse gases called HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons).
HFCs are potent gases that leak out of refrigerators…
November 12, 2021
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November 2, 2021
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