This little piggy wastes energy
Famed comedian Jerry Seinfeld used to quip in one of his stand-up routines that the walls of his apartment had been painted so many times—and so shoddily so—that his electrical outlets looked like pigs trying to push their way in from outside. The idea of such a sight has always made me chuckle, but it took on a new meaning this week when I read this eye-opening New York Times article. The writer, Larry Magid, used a simple energy meter to measure how much electricity his various electronics were consuming when he wasn’t using them. He assumed it wasn’t much—only to find that his computer alone was costing him an extra $119 in electricity and pumping 2,000 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere per year. Moral of the story: Learn from Magid’s experience, and for goodness sakes—unplug your gadgets, or at least let ‘em sleep, when they’re not in use!
