Comments jahody has made

go dorm-sized, or just unplug it!

Smaller dorm sized refrigerators are a great choice if you're a 1-2 person household or eat out a lot.  That's more common in Europe than it is in the US - but a great way to make space in the kitchen and really save a lot of energy.  

In the winter in a cold climate you can unplug the fridge altogether.  At one point in my life I spent about 6 months without a fridge entirely - it was winter in NYC, I lived in a cold apt. and we just put perishables on the windowsill (sometimes inside, sometimes outside depending on the temp) and ate them within a few days (we were a vegetarian household so meat was not an issue).  By the time we got a fridge we realized we didn't really need one.  In a house it would be possible to use the garage or basement...

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I've always heard it takes less energy to cool a full fridge.  We seem to have an empty fridge a lot of the time but things like beer (!), pitchers or jugs of water etc take up that space nicely. On How to green your fridge posted 1 year, 9 months ago 5 Responses