You were hoping this had something to do with getting naked. Sorry. It’s about saving energy, a decidedly less-sexy topic. We’ll make it a quickie: Use power strips. Here’s why.
You know how those little black boxes on your chargers? The coffee machine with the digital clock that you never bothered to set? They waste energy, and so do many other electronics. If you plug all your gizmos and gadgets into a power strip, eliminating that energy loss is much easier. Take your Blackberry charger, your iPod dock, your computer, your television, and your Wii and plug them into power strips. When you’re not using your electronics, switch off the power strip to prevent them from drawing small amounts of power while they’re in standby mode. (Hint: two obvious times would be when you’re not at home or when you’re sleeping.) Do this with all your electronics and you could save 10 percent on your annual electricity bills, and do a little something nice for the planet by reducing your greenhouse gas emissions.
A useful tip: If the clunky black boxes don’t fit so well, pick up some power strip liberators - mini extension cords that allow you to actually use all the outlets on your power strip. You can buy them on Amazon for less than $1.50 each. Here’s what they look like:
PS: We wonder if we’re making an ass out of “u” and “me” by assuming that you do the most obvious things to save energy like switching off the lights and the television when you leave a room. Now that we think of it, we’re a little afraid to ask…
Category: NY Green
2 Comments
great tip about the strip liberators; my strips are always jammed with bulky transformers - thank!
Some of us even don’t realize the importance of this information. What a pity.