Home > Lighten Up > Carbon Pincher

Carbon Pincher

12:43 am - January 20, 2008

Photo: Carbon Pincher

I plug all of my home entertainment electronics into a power strip so I can cut their power drain in standby mode. But one afternoon I noticed many other appliances that were always plugged in, but that were only in use for minutes a day. The math is clear: Miscellaneous appliances can be just as guilty as electronics of pumping out the greenhouse carbon dioxide when not in use. Plug in the appliances below for no more than an hour a day and you'll get the savings listed below over the course of a year.

  • Electric toothbrushes: A fully charged Sonicare electric toothbrush has enough juice for two weeks of twice daily two minute brushings. Unplug it and save 22 pounds of CO2.
  • Electric shaver: Norelco's 1050 Arcitec Cordless Electric Shaver is fully charged in one hour and has a three-minute quick charge feature for emergencies. Unplug it and save 11 pounds of CO2.
  • Microwave oven: Do you really need another kitchen clock? Unplug it and save 34 pounds of CO2.
  • Hand held vacuum: Unplug it and save 34 pounds of CO2.
  • Coffee maker: An automatic coffee maker with digital features drain energy all night waiting for the timer to go off. Flip the switch manually and unplug it, saving 34 pounds of CO2.

By simply unplugging the items above you can save 135 pounds of carbon a year! But don't stop here. Go on a hunt for energy-wasting appliances and unplug them. And see Alix in Wonderland for smart power strips, that can automatically turn off electroinic peripherals http://thegreenguide.com/blog/alix.

Extra Credit: At the office, invest in an industrial coffee maker with a thermal carafe that will keep coffee warm without using any energy, like the Classic Café Concepts GBT60 that we use in house. By running the machine only to refill (about an hour and a half a day when we go through ten pots) we save 158 pounds of CO2 per year!

© The Green Guide, 2008

Share | Email this post

Discuss this blog


Electricity saver + cut radiation
posted by hairgirl74 on 2008-02-03 03:51:50  

In light of the growing concerns for the environment and everyone doing their part to conserve on energy and fuel these days I have some new technology information to share with anyone interested. This is based on new cutting edge technology that hardly anyone knows about and will soon be a household name. We are with a company called Xedia and it is based on an inventor that has several patents and over 200 inventions like caller id, picture-n-picture, cell phone antennae, blue tooth technology, wireless devices of all sorts, etc. The company is 25 years old and now has come out with some awesome products that won't be in a Wal-Mart so this is important to get the word out.

One of them cuts your electric bill by 20-50% and saves your appliances for very low cost (affordable for anyone). Another increases fuel mileage in your car and even diesel trucks by up to 20% and lowers emissions by 80%! Others include natural ozone air cleaners at much lower cost than produced before that require no cleaning, and a device to protect your family from EMF radiation that causes all sorts of things like cancer, especially childhood leukemia (linked to 30% of cases). The website to go to is: www.myxedia.com/rdlewis and there is a demonstration on this link at www.alphaexposure.com/xedia. If anyone has someone that they want to see this that isn't online we also have DVDs available.

Thanks so much for your time and consideration.


Green Gab is for registered users only. If you are not a registered user and would like to join the discussion, register today.

Already registered? Log in here:
Username: Password:
If you have forgotten your password, click here.