First there were the handy types, devising ways to keep an eye on their electricity usage. But not all of us have the ability, or the inclination to get this involved with our electricity meters. For those who do, more less power to you.
Then came the Plug-In Mains Power & Energy Monitor. Fine if you just want to know how much electricity a couple of your appliances are using. But if you want to audit the electricity use in your entire home, it would involve having quite a few of these, and running about the place with your calculator, adding up your kilowatt-hours. Possible, but not probable.
(Sigh) The Electrisave. It came along in all its wireless glory and put an end to the hard work involved in checking your energy use. It only takes 5 minutes to install, and you can monitor your entire house with just one glance. And then spend your time rushing around switching things off. Pretty satisfying? You may think so. But some of us are blessed with a need for beauty in all functional objects (I’m thinking my architect husband here), and while it’s functional, clever and ever so convenient, the Electrisave is not beautiful.
And so, on to the Wattson. Aaah! Fantastically stylish and hailed by some as a classic design piece, the Wattson keeps an eye on your electricity use and provides some funky mood lighting while it’s at it. It’s available to pre-order now at LOVE ECO. There is no more beautiful way to work to reduce your consumption and lighten your carbon footprint. Not yet!
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If you’re planning a camping trip this summer, get over to allthingsgreen.net for a peek at their eco-friendly camping set. Instead of stocking up on batteries, invest in some kit that will mean you never need batteries again. The Freeplay Xray wind-up torch and Freeplay Ranger wind-up, solar and rechargeable FM / AM radio are being sold together for £54.98, that’s £10 off their usual price. And as part of the offer, allthingsgreen.net will deliver the items free of charge via a next day courier service.
While you’re there, check out some of their other camping essentials: Organic Places to Stay in the UK, recycled rain hat and after-sun spray with organic aloe-vera, lavander and organic eucalyptus.
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Did you know that less than 2% of disposable household batteries are recycled? And that each household uses on average 21 batteries a year? That adds up to UK households throwing away almost 30,000 tonnes of household disposable batteries every year. But there is another option…
Rechargeable batteries are available in our supermarkets, so couldn’t be simpler to get hold of. And the good news is that you can make a huge energy savings by using rechargeable batteries, because the energy used to manufacture a battery is about 50 times as much as the average disposable battery gives out.
The latest innovation in rechargeable batteries comes in the form of the USBcell, which makes recharging even easier, and doesn’t require you to buy a recharger. Simply plug the battery into a USB port on your computer, and Bob’s your uncle, very soon your battery is charged and ready to go.
If you still have disposable batteries that you need to dispose of, please remember that they should not be disposed of in your household rubbish. Some local authorities offer a battery collection scheme, alternatively some Curry’s branches have a used battery collection point where you can leave your batteries for recycling.
Please note that rechargeable batteries should NOT be used in smoke alarms because they tend to run out suddenly, which prevents the alarm from warning when the battery’s power in running low.
Figures for recycling were taken from Waste Online.
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