Save Eco Destinations

Even if the vampire is sexy, you need to kill her or him to save money.

Going green is cheap and it can even save you money. (So even if you don’t care about the environment, you have some robust motivation to get you going!)

One way to go green is to kill all your electricity vampires. Just wear necklaces made from raw garlic. All day.

All right, I’m only kidding — there are certainly more efficient ways to fend off vampires!

Vampire power, and how to pound a stake through its heart

You see those little red lights flashing after you turn your TV, cell phone, computer, etc., off? That’s electricity being used up! This is called “standby power” or “vampire power” and it sucks up a yearly 5% of household electricity use in the U.S. (read: $10 billion) and 10-15% in Japan, Germany, and the Netherlands, according to the EPA. A real – and fully preventable! – shame.

Turn off and unplug all electronics when not in use. To simplify this task, you can plug all cords into a switchable power strip and turn it off to get all appliances in one go.

Track your energy vampires:

• Power supplies and transformers
• VCR/DVD players and certain audio systems
• Some home video game consoles
• TVs and set-top boxes
• Microwaves
• Computers, digital monitors, fax machines, and printers
• Remote-operated AC systems
• Devices featuring “instant on” functions
• Devices with a stand-by light or clock, e.g., alarms you have to plug into the wall (you might only want to unplug these when you’re going away for a few days)
• Power adapters/battery chargers, regardless of whether they are powering a device (used for digital cameras, cell phones, etc. – always unplug them when you’re finished charging your device!)

Read more about which appliances suck up power here.

When available, always do your best to replace energy suckers such as dishwashers, electric ovens, AC, and water heaters with energy efficient alternatives.

And don’t be fooled by computer screen savers – they aren’t saving you any power!