What does every college student have in this technological era? A cell phone. What does every cell phone have? A charger.
Did you know that cell phone chargers still drain power even when the cell phone ISN’T PLUGGED INTO the charger? This also applies to your laptop, Ipod, camera, or any other device that may have wall-rechargeable batteries. So my first challenge is to start off by always unplugging my cell phone charger when I’m not using it.
Like the post before me, while I don’t like to admit to it, one of the main reasons why I usually keep my charger plugged in is because it can just be an annoyance to have to unplug it. I keep my phone charger plugged into the outlet behind my bed, which is in the corner of my extremely tiny dorm room. To get to the outlet, I have to pull all of the boxes out from under my bed and then crawl under my bed to pull out the charger. It’s a rather lengthy process and it used to seem like the results from unplugging my charger wouldn’t be worth the effort.
This is where the problem starts. Most of us can be lazy about simple tasks like unplugging a charger, or turning off the lights, just because it may be an annoyance. While we once never realized that our carelessness was going to harm us, we are finally starting to see the results and find out the truth behind our laziness.
It may seem like a small amount of energy for each device, but as more and more people feel the same way that I used to, this bad habit of ours can slowly add up to a lot of wasted energy.
If you don’t believe me then look at this statistic in Matter Magazine,
“Let's just look at cell phones, of which there are an estimated 190 million in the United States. A quick back of the envelope calculation says that the combined stand-by usage of all those cell phone chargers, each drawing a measly watt, could add up to 190 megawatts per day. That's enough to power approximately 100,000 homes.”
So here’s a start to take get rid of this HUGE waste of energy.
For me, I think I’m going to start by finding a new place to plug my phone charger. I’m not the biggest fan of crawling under my bed.
Keep your outlets open. Spread the word.
- A
absolutely.. these things are called vampires because they suck out electricity. have you ever wondered why in the world we need to have huge lighted signs all night to advertise stuff like clothes at 2 AM .. hmmm
ReplyDeletegirl! I feel ya! It's a struggle. good for you thoughh! wonderful post, darling!
ReplyDelete