I ponder today about another advice that my mother pounded into my head: If it's not on sale, don't buy it. If you aren't sure the cost, ASK. Lastly, look over your purchase with scrupulous detail until you're sure it is a PRISTINE, discount purchase.
What if when you looked at your energy bill for the month it told you more than the AMOUNT DUE with a variety of hard-to-comprehend acronyms and decimal-pointed numbers?
What if next month you opened your energy bill with a graph of where your energy was used the most?
What if it listed the types of energy sources used to generate your electricity?
Would you change your behavior then?
On the front page of the New York Times this morning was a headline and article that made me ponder my own energy-sucking activities... An iPod World, With a Hunger For Electricity. I am not very savvy with the whole iCulture, but I do have many of the same amenities in my house: a laptop, cell phone, TV. Now my amenities are not iOfficial; however, they still suck up energy when I'm not looking.
Did you know that many of the plasma TVs on the market suck up more power than many refrigerators? Crazy, hey?!
So how do we become more efficient with our new wave of iLife or similar household electronics that are yet to have federal regulated energy rules?
THE ANSWER: as in most politically charged market queries, there is never one answer. There is one easy solution, aside from removing yourself from society into an e-free cave: USE LESS and PULL THE PLUG (when you're not using).
Most importantly, BE AWARE of the source of your energy and your energy costs. As fall & winter approaches the Midwest, energy costs become hot tamale topics (hello heating bill!). Get to know the wattage lingo and calculate much your appliances use.
Most important, listen to your mother. She knows best.
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