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Unplug your appliances and electronic devices from power outlets and save money on your electric bill and conserve a significant amount of energy and unnecessary CO2 from being released into the atmosphere. Some of the biggest energy wasters in people’s homes are the adapters (chargers) of cell phones, digital cameras, music players, and power tools. Unplug these adapters and electronics (televisions, DVD players, computers, microwaves, lights, entertainment systems, toasters and blenders) after using them.
These chargers and appliances draw power whenever they’re plugged into an outlet, regardless of whether the appliance is fully charged or even connected. A recent study of out of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that only about 4% of electricity is consumed while appliances were actually on. The Union of Concerned Scientists (http://www.ucsusa.org/publications/greentips/energy-vampires.html) estimates that Phantom Line Loss (the wasted energy produced by these chargers/ appliances) results in 65 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity wasted each year. This costs consumers more than $5.8 billion and sends more than 87 billion pounds of heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
If you meticulously unplug just ONE appliance when not in use, you will save about 1,000 lbs of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere and roughly 20 bucks a year. Think how much you can save by unplugging all of them! How simple is that?!
reference link:
http://digitalchaperon.blogspot.com/2007/07/unplug-your-cell-phone-cha
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The Creative Citizen Network:
Missa says:
Another way of adopting this in a time-effective and easy to remember manner is to buy a power strip with a power switch on it. When the switch is flipped off, it will power down all the cords and electronics it normally powers and send a signal back to the circut that no electricity is needed. Further, if you own your own home, there are electrical outlets with a switch attached to them so you can turn off the electricity directly at the outlet.
posted 02/18/08 at 05:22 PM
Alix says:
Here's some additional text for this option from http://digitalchaperon.blogspot.com/2007/07/unplug-your-cell-phone-charger.html:
When your phone is charging it's only using about 5% of the power it sucks from your outlet. That other 95% adds up to a lot of wasted energy, especially if you leave it plugged in minus the phone.
Of course you could get rid of that conventional charger all together and go wireless with Wild Charge, or opt for a solar powered charger. (Solar powered cell phones are still a little ways off.)
Soon your cell phone may even remind you to unplug. Last year, the European Commission's mobile industry task force (led by Nokia) announced that cell phones will include alerts to remind people to unplug the charger once the phone is fully charged.
posted 01/14/08 at 05:28 PM