All of you have calculated your emissions and you have surely discovered the unexpectedly high impact of some of your behaviors (eating meat, flying to a sunny destination, etc.) on your total footprints.
Are there any behaviors that you are really willing to change or to improve for the sake of the environment? What challenges do you encounter or think you will encounter while trying to change these things? What help, support, and insights from others would make your life easier with these new behaviors?
Let's discuss these issues and make our pledges here!
Now It's Time for Action >
Unplug Your Charger!
Do you leave your phone charger plugged in all day? Have you ever noticed it feels warm even if your phone isn’t plugged in? It may seem like such a small amount of energy. However, when you unplug your phone from its charger, it’s still draining power! Only five percent of the power from a cell-phone charger is used to charge the phone. The other ninety-five percent is wasted when the charger is left in the wall! The US has an estimated amount of 190 million chargers plugged in. Each of these using only a small amount could add up to 190 megawatts per day. That’s enough to power approximately 100,000 homes! This shows how big of an impact it has on our carbon footprint. Unplugging your charger would be a small action that makes a big difference.
http://www.naborsapts.org/2010/11/unplu … ve-energy/
I totally didn't know that something as simple as unplugging your cell phone charger could severely impact our electricity usage. I don't even think about it when I unplug my phone, to also unplug my charger. Teens nowadays are always on their phones and we constantly have to charge them. Since almost everyone has electronics, we could all unplug them when we reach full batteries. If we got word around, then we would definitely lower our impact on our carbon footprint.
I personally had no idea leaving my charger in the outlet would drain so much energy! I leave almost all of my chargers plugged in; my computer, phone, and iPad charger stay plugged in all day everyday. Leaving just one charger plugged in costs over $80, so if I leave three chargers plugged in all the time, that's over $250! If I calculated my whole family's, that'd be over $500! If we spread the word about how leaving your chargers plugged in uses so much energy, we would assuredly lower our carbon footprint not just individually, but as a nation.
There is a new gadget out called the Mushroom GreenZero Wall Travel Charger. As Jillian explained, your charger is still using energy when plugged in to the outlet when you are not charging your device. This charger is unique because it can detect when your device's battery is full. Once it is full, the charger itself turns off. Take a look at the article for more details. This would really help the people like me, who have a hard time remembering to unplug!
http://www.treehugger.com/gadgets/ces-2 … -full.html