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Green @ Home: Use a Power Strip!

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greenATHomelogo.pngName: Shayna
Location: Oakland


One of the easiest moves we've made in our home is to use a power strip to power the appliances that we don't need on all of the time. We simply flip the switch off when not in use and flip it on when we need that power.

 
 
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power strip friends

Our record player, speakers, TV and lamp share one hidden power-strip in the living room. The coffee maker and toaster share a power strip in the kitchen (with our cell phone charger making an occasional appearance). Our electricity bill averages about $16 per month.

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INFO:


Please send us photos and info on how you live green@home. This is not a contest, just a way to build up an AT inspirational database of sorts on how real folks are living greener at home.

Simple, straightforward ideas are welcome, like how you deal with your recycling bin in a small kitchen, and so are ambitious projects - like your amazing green roof. We hope to have a big archive of ideas to inspire us all by the end of the month.

PRIZES:

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6-26-ecover1.jpg6-26-ecover3.gifIn exchange for sharing your green@home ideas, Ecover will reward the first 100 ApartmentTherapy readers, who submit photo/essays demonstrating ways in which their lives are green, with their choice of Ecover Liquid Laundry detergent, Ecover Dishwashing Liquid, or Ecover Glass & Surface spray cleaner. Each of the first 100 will also receive Ecover Heavy Duty hand cleanser.

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7-7raksha.gifRaksha Bella will reward one lucky sweepstakes winner with a complete bedding set made from all certiefied Indian organic cottons. The set includes a queen-sized duvet cover, quilt, two pillow cases and two European shams in the winner's choice of three designs. The Classic Collection from Raksha Bella features sumptous textiles in traditional Indian prints, handblocked with lowimpact and vegetable dyes. Choose from the Raj Paisley (available in Indigo or Rum Raisin), Tree of Life (in Canton & Mimosa) or Indian Rose (in Dusty Cedar, Cress Green or Indigo). A retail value of $1,165.00.


HOW TO ENTER:

To enter the Green @ Home Giveaway, please submit below. Submissions will be posted from July 7th to August 1 and winners will be notified by August 8th.


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RULES:

Please, only one submission per person. Duplicate submissions will be discarded.

This is not a contest.

The first 100 posted submissions will receive a gift from Ecover.

The winner of the Raksha Bella Sweepstakes will be randomly drawn from all complete entries (even those that aren't posted).

Winners must claim their prize within three business days after the date of notification of such prize. A Sweepstakes winner's failure to respond to the prize notification within the specified three business days will be considered such Sweepstakes winner's forfeiture of the prize and an alternate winner may be selected from the pool of eligible entries. If an entrant is found to be ineligible, an alternate winner may also be selected from the pool of eligible entries.

To enter, you must be a U.S. resident, age 18 or older to enter. Employees, partners and vendors of Apartment Therapy and their immediate family members are not eligible to enter. We will disqualify any entries that we believe are generated by scripts and other automated technology. When applicable, the winner may be required to execute and return within five business days an Affidavit of Eligibility and a Liability and Publicity Release to be eligible for the prize or an alternate winner will be selected.

All prizes will be awarded. No substitutions including for cash are permitted, except that Apartment Therapy reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater monetary value for any prize. Winners shall be responsible and liable for all federal, state and local taxes on the value of their prize. To receive a complete list of winners or a copy of the Official Sweepstakes Rules, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Apartment Therapy, 22 Howard Street #4i, New York, NY 10013.

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green ideas, Green @ Home 2008

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Comments (8)

There are some devices (TVs and cables boxes especially) that might be better left plugged in. They need power to retain settings, update TV guide data, etc.

posted by chrisherbert on July 8th 2008 at 12:25pm
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I was recently in Australia and they have solved this before it even became a problem by having the most awesome outlets, standard everywhere I went:
http://blogs.business2.com/greenwombat/images/aussie_powerpoint2.jpg

The outlets have an on/off switch, so you can individually turn them on or off, when not in use. Why can we have those here? So simple!!!!!!! So awesome!!!!!

posted by ratita on July 8th 2008 at 2:15pm
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I plug my tv, dvd player, speakers, all that stuff into a power strip too. Yeah, the settings are off on the tv, but I don't care.

posted by mdtown531 on July 8th 2008 at 4:51pm
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My computer power cord, modem and speakers are all plugged into one, and my oven, and kitchen lamp are plugged into another. It all gets switched off when I leave in the morning.

posted by alina on July 8th 2008 at 5:06pm
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Growing up, my friend's father was a fireman and we were always cautioned never to leave anything with a heating element (like a toaster or coffeepot) plugged in all the time even if it was off. I guess it can be a fire danger and all that's protecting you is a $0.05 fuse. Ever since I've been scared to leave anything plugged in! Guess I've been anti-vampire watt usage and didn't know it.

He also scared me into always sleeping with the bedroom doors shut. In a fire, it can buy you precious extra minutes to have the door between you and the smoke and flames. Sorry for the off-topic fire lesson, but maybe it may help someone someday!

posted by LilyC on July 8th 2008 at 7:50pm
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Ha, I just posted this on the LA site. I use this for my lights/lamps since I'm not home during the day it's the easiest way to turn on/off my lights!

posted by surferartchick on July 9th 2008 at 6:06am
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I have two major places where electricty is used. My entertainment area and my home office. I use power strips in both areas, but since I am on the road nearly every week I began turning them off every time I left the house. I also switched to florescent bulbs, unplugged cell phone chargers and the like, and cut my electric bill by 2/3!!! when i buy my own place i'd like to get a smaller fridge/freezer since i never fill up more than half of my large fridge. figure that's where most of my electric juice comes from each month.

another suggestion for power strips is to put them on timers. so if you're gone from 8-5 everyday, have the timers turn them off 8:30-4:30. it really helps out your bill!!

Cheers,
M

posted by Matt. M on July 9th 2008 at 12:33pm
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you guys, send in your tips! these are great! you might even get a free prize!

posted by shayna r on July 9th 2008 at 1:27pm
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