Turn off your gadgets!

This week is energy saving week in the UK and a new report has just been released that shows the UK to be the most wasteful country in Europe. With the average home now having so many consumer electronics, it's no wonder that demand for electricity is so high and wastage so great.

So what are the most wasteful things we do?

• Leaving our appliances (like that shiny new HD TV you just bought) in standby mode
• Leaving mobile phone, iPod and other chargers plugged in and turned on when not in use
• Not switching off lights when not in the room

Leaving devices in standby can account for up to 10% of your energy bill, so knocking that one on the head would be a good start towards saving the planet and your money. For example, I don't watch DVDs that often, so I make sure I turn my DVD player off at the wall when it's not in use and I always turn my TV off at the unit itself, rather than with the remote.

I also make sure that when I'm not actually charging my mobile phone, BlackBerry, iPod or Nintendo DS that the charger unit is turned off at the wall. All the time that a charger is plugged in and turned on it is using a few watts of electricity, even when it's not charging anything!

Finally, leaving your computer and ADSL modem or router running all the time will use huge amounts of electricity. I have set my iMac's display to turn off after 5 minutes and it will enter sleep mode after 15 minutes of inactivity. Ideally, I try and turn it fully off whenever I can and particularly if I am going to be away for a few days. I also turn my wireless ADSL router off every night and only turn it back on again when I next need to use it.

And leaving the lights on when not in the room? That's just silly. It's like leaving the front door open when you go out. And you are using energy saving light bulbs, right? Please say yes, a single energy saving bulb will save you around £9 on your annual electricity bill and up to £100 over its lifetime.

Oh and one last thing - remember, if you're boiling the kettle, only fill it with as much water as you need for your cup of tea, not all the way to the top!

For more tips on energy saving check out the Energy Saving Trust's website.

Tags: energy, saving, uk, efficiency, waste, electricity, schmadget, gadgets, tech, technology, scb