Everybody benefits from a little time off, so, please:

Give ‘em Nights and Weekends

OFF!

According to the U. S. Department of Energy, Americans use more electricity to power their home entertainment systems when they are “off” than when they are actually using them. Today “off” regularly means “standing by”, rather than “off”, and all that “standing by” uses a lot of energy. Americans spend about one billion dollars a year to keep their entertainment systems “standing by”.

A look at the use of office electronics tells a similar story. Lights, monitors, computers, printers, scanners, copiers, and even electric staplers use much of the energy they consume when these devices are needlessly left on.

If we start paying as much attention to those new yellow “Energy Guide” tags as we have in the past to price tags, we can reduce our total costs and reduce pollution from power plants that must run to provide the power needed to keep our entertainment systems “standing by”. Buying the most efficient “Energy Star” qualified products is a great start but only offers part of the solution to a healthier environment and a more secure energy future.

Even if all electronic equipment in your office is “Energy Star” rated, you can increase the useful life of the equipment and reduce the need for power if you only turn stuff on when you actually need to use it and turn stuff off when you are no longer using it. To make certain stuff is off, use a power strip and turn off the switch on the strip. Please, when it comes to your electronic office staff:

Give ‘em Nights and Weekends OFF!