Backyard Revolution Review
(Technically power plants are the ones who spew the CO2 Backyard Revolution Review but they do it while producing power for us.) You can start fighting pollution right in the safety of your own home. Same goes for electricity and water. You can do your part to conserve both by making simple changes around the house.
Average people use more energy at home than anywhere else Your utility bills likely tell you as much each month. If you want those bills to tell another story like Wow look how much money you're saving! you can start by checking your home's energy efficiency. With an efficient home you'll use less energy and spend less money to cover your home energy needs. Being energy efficient is great for the earth and great for your wallet. The U.S EPA estimates that 18 percent of total greenhouse-gas emissions in the United States come from home energy use which works out to four metric tons of carbon dioxide sent into the atmosphere every year for each person in America. (A metric ton is 2220 pounds about the weight of a small car.) That's one giant-sized carbon footprint!
There's a phantom lurking in your house a vampire that sucks energy and raises your utility bill. But you don't need an exorcist or wooden stake to banish this bogeyman. An appliance's phantom load is the power that it uses even when it's switched off. TVs cable boxes DVD and DVR players video-game consoles appliances with digital clocks computers power adapters transformers chargers and anything with an instant-on function (meaning you can turn it on with a remote rather than pushing a button or flipping a switch) can all have phantom loads.
The load for a single appliance is usually in the range of 5-15 watts which isn't a whole lot. But that small amount adds up fast when you consider all the devices in a typical home and the number of homes across the country. Experts say that phantom loads accounts for as much as 5% of total U.S. electricity use that's more than $3 billion annually! With those numbers the phantom load starts looking more like a phantom menace. The simplest and surest way to reduce your phantom load is to unplug things when you're not using them.
