I've gotten into the habit of turning off the computer at night, using the power bar to shut if off completely. I'm pretty proud of myself, as this was a hard change for me. DH still hasn't quite got it down yet, but he's working on it. The next challenge will be to turn of the computer during the day when I'm not using it.
Most days, I turn it on first thing in the morning, check my email and then leave it on for a couple of hours while I get the kids ready for school. I check both home and business email periodically throughout the day. The computer is shut down for the night, usually between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m.
This is a lot of wasted energy though. The computer sits idle gobbling away on electricity, while I'm off doing other things. I'm going to try to make a concerted effort to turn the computer off when I'm finished using it during the day. It will be an interesting experiment to see how often I'm actually on the computer because I need to be, not because I'm wasting time! :)
So friends, if I don't respond to you right away, my apologies. I'm off saving the planet, one email at a time.
I've always turned my computer off when not in use, even way back when. I never did understand why everyone else I know left them on, on and on.
ReplyDeleteWith the exception of the refrigerator, it has always bugged me to have things running when in fact, I am really not using them. Another two exceptions are two household lamps with LEDs that are on timers- this is a security thing of us not wanting to walk into a completely dark house at night, etc. But again, those are timed and this is something I picked up from my parents. Also the turning off of lights in rooms you're not in!
I guess I was slated to be an eco-weirdo-geek from the begining! (With my folks, though, it was about saving money, not the enviroment, but in my opinion, the two are the same) Good luck with the computer turn off! Once again, your blog rocks and I really look forward to reading it everyday!
Thanks for the positive feedback, Deb! Turning off the computer during the day has been easier than I thought it would be, and I'm getting more done because I'm not sitting down checking email every 1/2 hr! :)
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