Thursday, September 23, 2010

The Electric Company

For the past few weeks, just before bed, I've been unplugging almost every single electronic component in my house. It's an experiment really. And the goal is to see if I can save any money on my $25 electric bill (that comes every 2 months). Most likely, I'll only save a few bucks. But hey, if just 10% of the population did this, we'd be using a lot less power! We'd also be saving enough money (per year) to go out and buy something unique, handmade and/or vintage (i.e.--shop on Etsy).

Here's my estimate of how much money could be saved and put towards the handmade sector of the economy:

-We'd save approx. $2.50/month on each electric bill. That's $30 per year, per person.
-If 10% of the U.S. population did this, that's about 30 million people (conservatively).
-30 million people x $30/person/year = $900 million!!

That's right--$900 million could be spent towards handmade goods if just 10% of us unplugged our televisions and computers each night. Think about that the next time you're wondering what you can do to jump start this economy...

Repurposed light bulb vase, $11 - from Star Redesigns.
Vintage Primary clock, $21 - from The Vintage Apartment.
"TV Bikes" Print, $20 - from Press Print.
"As Seen On TV" embroidery, $185 - from It's A Stitch.

4 comments:

  1. Now, that's using your math skills! The only electronic device I remember to unplug is my coffee maker. Does that count?
    Lovely to see the primary clock from my shop featured here, Karl! Thanks so much!

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  2. Thanks for the feature!
    Amazing stats you got there. Very motivating to unplug things when you're not using them!

    Cheers,
    Star

    (Star Redesigns)

    ReplyDelete
  3. @buttercup caren -- yeah, let's hope that when I do get my bill, I've actually saved money. Or else, this experiment will be totally moot!

    Oh, and coffee makers totally count!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've gotten rid of my microwave & my stereo system as ways to reduce both power-usage as well as to keep things a bit less techy in my home. I'm working on getting into the slow movement, 'cause lord knows the world moves too fast. :)

    ReplyDelete

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