Citizen Actions

Resources for People Working Toward Climate-Friendly Cooling


Investigate

Supermarkets don’t publicly share what refrigerants are in their stores, but it’s pretty easy to find out. We’re crowdsourcing for refrigerant labels you can find on your next grocery trip! Help us hunt down super pollutants by submitting your neighborhood grocer or supermarket to our climate-friendly supermarkets map.

 

Speak Out

 

EIA, Green America and YouthPower Climate Action investigated supermarkets in Northern California and found that over half of the stores we visited were leaking HFCs into the air. These widespread but avoidable leaks of climate-warming refrigerant gases must be addressed. The average supermarket leaks 25% of its super pollutant refrigerant each year, yet companies aren't acting fast enough to stop these leaks and match the urgency of the climate crisis. Use your voice to demand that these retailers stop leaking havoc on our climate.

 
 
 

Climate-polluting HFCs for refrigeration account for a staggering 63% of Kroger’s direct emissions, so it should be a top priority in lowering its climate footprint. Yet the company’s 2023 climate roadmap shows rising HFC emissions in coming years and Kroger has yet to commit to ending its reliance on these chemicals across its stores, despite knowing about this problem for years. That's why EIA and our partners are urging Kroger to end its use of HFCs in all facilities and stores by 2030 and immediately set a robust leak reduction goal for all its stores. Take action with us.

 
 
 

Have you seen Trader Joe’s sustainability report? No? Neither have we. Trader Joe’s sustainability report is a mere blog post that lacks details on how it's addressing concerns on the inaction on labor rights issues in its chocolate supply chains or to stop the leaking of super-pollutant greenhouse gases from all of its stores. Join us and Green America as we hold Trader Joe’s accountable.

 
 
 
While some supermarkets have installed climate-friendly technologies (see the HFC-free stores on our map), many continue to use and leak HFCs, super-pollutant greenhouse gases thousands of times worse for the climate than CO2Sign the petition to request a climate-friendly store in your area.
 

Shop HFC-free

See how your supermarket measures up on our Supermarket Scorecard where we assess top-grossing U.S. grocery retailers, that represent over 70 brands, on their actions to reduce emissions of super pollutant hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

 

Explore our interactive map to find a climate-friendly supermarket near you. Search by zip code or address to find a grocer in your neighborhood using HFC-free technologies. Learn more about the technologies stores are using by clicking on a store and visiting our technology page.

 

Learn

Learn more about refrigerants and the climate opportunity they present by reading our report Search, Reuse, and Destroy. This report discusses how we can prevent HFC emissions both during and at the end of life of cooling equipment.

 

If you have an old refrigerator or air conditioning unit that you are trying to dispose of, check out Green America’s disposal blog to learn more about proper appliance disposal.

 

Join us! Subscribe for updates and ways you can participate as a citizen investigator.