home I
know-how
The price is
rather uplifting
Cotton Stretch
FRUIT™ LOOM,
Questions? Email us at [email protected]
Available at Walmart and wafmart.com
*
LIVIN G
GREEN
Power
Moves
For electro n ics and
som e appliances*
o ff d o esn 't m ean
co m p letely off. T h ese
d evices d raw p o w er
even w h en th e y arenft
a ctiv e ly u sed , w h ich
w a ste s en erg y and
m oney, In fa ct, yo n
m ay be sp en d in g as
m uch as $100 a year
on ph an tom pow er,
accord in g to E n ergy
Star estim a tes.
C om m on p o w e r-
stealin g cu lp rits are
th o se w ith rem ote
controls* e x te rn a l
p o w er su p p lies, LED
sta tu s ligh ts, d igital
d isp lays, clo ck s,
b a tte ry ch arg ers, o r
so ft k eyp ad s.
Id en tify th iev e s
To see h o w m uch
en erg y a com puter,
TV, or gam e con sole
in idle or sleep m ode
u se s, ch eck the
en erg y calcu lato r
(under 4£G reen ” ) at
digitaltips.org.
To d eterm in e h ow
m uch en erg y you
u se at an outlet* try
a m on itor su ch as a
K ill A W att m eter or a
p o w er strip w ith LCD
d isp lay (b o th from
P^international
.corn).
Or co n sid er a
w h o le-h o u se en ergy
m onitor su ch as T h e
E n ergy D etective
(starts at $zoo)j a
p a rtn e r w ith th e
G oogle P ow erM eter
p rogram th at n ow
o ffers free s o ftw a re
so u sers can ch eck
en erg y u sage on
th eir com p u ters.
F i g h t c r i m e
To m in im ize w aste b y
en erg y vam p ires:
* U nplug ch arg ers
from ou tlets once
cell p h o n es, d igital
cam era batteries*
h an d h eld va cu u m s,
and p o w e r tools are
fu lly ch arged.
* E nable p o w er
m an agem en t fe a tu re s
on e le c tro n ic s— sleep
m ode d raw s le ss
p o w er th an a screen
saver. Som e gam e
co n so les h ave auto-
sliu td o w n m odes.
* U se p o w e r strip s to
clu ste r electro n ics
so th e y all can be
shu t o ff easily. A s
an a lte rn a tiv e to
stan d ard p ow er
strip s, a d evice called
a Sm art S trip b y
Bits Lim ited
(bitsltd
.net)
cu ts idle cu rren t
to m on itors, p rin ters,
d esk lam p s, and
o th er related item s
w h en y o u tu rn
o ff y o u r com puter.
A n o th er p o w er
strip u ses sen sors
th a t d etect m otion
to co n trol the
p o w er (w aff
stopper.com
).
* Look for E n ergy
S ta r p ro d u cts, w h ich
offer low p o w er
co n su m p tio n in the
stan d b y m ode. ■
$ 20>0 Fruit of the Loon*. Inc.
128
11E T T E It
H O .11 EE A \ D G ARDENS |
OCTOBER 2 0 1 0 |
BtiG .C O M
W o rld M u g s ft
PHOTO: MARTY BALDWIN
