Green Office Home and Energy Conservation

Green Office Home is always looking for ways to save energy, and reduce energy costs as well! Did you know that consumer electric products are responsible for about 15 percent of all household electricity use? According to the Southern California Edison website, electronic devices “still use energy when they’re switched off to power features such as clock displays and remote controls – in fact, the average U.S. household spends $100 each year to power devices while they are in “standby” mode. “

So what is the solution? SCE suggests unplugging consumer electronics when they are not in use. A stunning energy fact: even when turned off, CD players in the U.S. consume enough energy in one year to power the Las Vegas Strip for six months.

As a consumer, you do have choices. You can select consumer electronic items with the “Energy Star” rating, as these products use less energy, and this has a direct impact on your ability to create a greener home and impact your wallet by controlling soaring energy costs!

You can also select items with fewer “bells and whistles”. For example, I have a clock in my kitchen, and I do not need redundant clocks on my kitchen small appliances. I try to buy small appliances that do the same job, but have fewer features, and they also use less energy. I am also not setting dozens of clocks around the entire house anytime there is a brown out or power outage!

And, as someone who LOVES to cook, I strive to use fewer electronics in my cooking, and more of my own personal energy. I rarely, if ever, use my hand mixer any more, I prefer to do that work myself (and give my arms a great workout!). Ditto with the food processor. While it saves time to quickly “chop” veggies in my food processor, I can save electricity and money by taking a few more moments to chop them myself. There is something really enjoyable about chopping veggies and other foods and putting that care and love into the meal I cook for my family.

Do you have any special energy saving tips to share? We would love to hear from you!