Saturday, February 9, 2008

Is There A Vampire In The House?

Did anyone else have that game "I Vant To Bite Your Finger" when they were a kid? Maybe not a good name choice for a kid's game in 2008, but it sure was fun in 1982. I think of that game and the two little "blood" dots on the loser's finger when I think of vampires.

What do you think of when I add the word "energy?" Vampire energy.

Recently Good Magazine published an article about vampire energy. Basically vampire energy is a cute phrase describing what happens when we are not using electrical appliances and they are still plugged in. Lots of energy us still "sucked" up by the appliances. Who knew?

After reading this article I started unplugging more around the house. Not just the toaster and cell phone, but the TV and lamps too. I started unplugging appliances at other people's houses. I even started showering with the lights off...if I don't know where all of the equipment is by now, I'm in serious trouble.

The kids must have picked-up on my new hobby because they gave me a cute "unplug" tee shirt for Christmas. I wear it proudly. One of Little Guy's playmates Grandmother, Grandma Margie saw the shirt and inquired. I gave her my little spiel. "Up to 40% of our electricity is consumed by appliances that are not in use. Unplug!" So she did.

Just this week Grandma Margie and I met for lunch with the kids. $40! Grandma Margie saved $40 on her electricity bill last month!

Grandma Margie has told everyone she knows about her money savings tip. Now it's my turn to tell everyone I know about this money savings and earth saving tip.

Just in case you aren't quite sure of where all of your equipment is located yet, turn on the bathroom light. Then you can UNPLUG everything else.

1 comment:

dolphyngyrl said...

Aw, dammit!

Most of my plugs are behind things!


*grumble*