While You Were Out . . .

By: Christopher Forestieri

Last week, I looked at ways to reduce waste in the work place. This week, I decided to take a look at how my personal habits affect waste in my home. It would seem easier to avoid waste at home as opposed to work. Having in-house dishes and a supply of food eliminates some of the key waste factors I encounter at work. But what about when I’m not at home.

The other day, I saw a woman interviewed on the local news about her electricity bill. She claimed that she was able to reduce her power bill by $100 by unplugging each appliance in her house after use.

It stuck me as a great idea, but also seemed a practice requiring a level of vigilance and dedication that would be hard to sustain for any length of time. It only takes a second to rush out the door without unplugging everything to begin the disintegration of the “unplugging habit”.

Examining my apartment, I looked for a feasible system which would allow me to cut off power to key appliances without actually having to pull the cord out of the wall. While it may not be entirely possible to cut off all power without unplugging each appliance, I may have found a compromise.

By running key, energy sucking appliances through a power strip, one can easily cut off the power source completely. Most power strips have an on/off switch and several outlets. By consolidating a group of appliances into one or two power strips, one can easily cut off power to several appliances by pressing one on/off switch. If you want to go a step further, the power strip itself can be unplugged. In any case, it’s much simpler and less time consuming than unplugging ten different appliances.

While the power strip may not be useful or feasible for every home appliance, it can be utilized where there is a concentration of appliances, such as the entertainment center, the kitchen or the bathroom. One should note that it is dangerous to overload a power strip which can result in a blown fuse, shortage or, at worst case, a fire. Danger can be prevented by being aware of the power limitations of the power strip and the outlet.

There are many simple things we can do to reduce waste. While it is may seem easy to change habits, it’s much harder to sustain them. The key, as I have found, is to make keeping up good, waste saving habits as easy as possible.