21 December 2006
Christmas is coming and electricity guzzling gadgets and gizmos are certain to be among the presents hidden in homeowners' stockings. The Energy Savings Trust (EST) has issued some advice to help consumers to counteract the carbon footprint that these items will leave behind.
According to research carried out by newswire IT Week, PCs, laptops, printers, scanners, routers, digital cameras, mobile phones, gaming consoles and mp3 players can consume significant amounts of electricity and push up carbon emission levels.
Energy meters, which inform homeowners how much energy is being used by their gadgets, could prove to become an easily workable solution.
Other actions being promoted by the EST include planting a tree and fully powering-off electrical items, rather than leaving them on stand-by. Although stand-by modes use less electricity than having the item fully powered, they still add to consumers' carbon footprints.
This echoes a report released last week by British Gas, which found that the UK's teenagers were the worst culprits for being "stand-by villains" as they were more prone to leaving PC's and televisions in this semi switched-off state.
Ben Tuxworth, director of communications at energy action group Forum for the Future, commented: "We urgently need to accelerate energy efficiency standards for products and standby features would seem a good place to start."
Making small changes to your gas and electricity use can help save the planet and save you money too. Read tips on how to be more energy efficientRead tips on energy efficiency and see if you can Save by switching your gas and electricity supplier by using uSwitch.com's free and impartial comparison and switching service.
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