It’s off... but is it really off?

As a rule, if there’s a little light shining on your TV, hi-fi, or phone, it’s probably only on standby – which means it’s using almost as much energy when it’s off, as it uses when it’s on!

Avoid the confusion – if you don’t have an ‘off’ switch on the appliance, just get into the habit of switching off at the plug.

We all forget to switch off lights from time to time. But it’s worth remembering that for every hour you leave a 60W lightbulb switched on, you are releasing 17 grams of C02 into the atmosphere.

Get yourself into the habit of using natural sunlight instead of electric lights in the day. At night, remember to flick the switch every time you leave the room.

The innocent phone charger. Hard to believe they are quietly wasting over 50,000 tonnes of CO2 in Britain every year.

That’s because most people leave them switched on at the socket, even when they’re not in use. And that goes for laptop and camera chargers too.

Finished charging up? Switch it off at the wall.

Being a good carbon samaritan starts in the home. But you can do your bit in the office too.

In fact, your office is quite likely to be leaking excess energy at the seams. Employees don’t pay the electricity bills, so nobody takes responsibility for switching things off!

Before you leave for the day, turn off your computer, fax, printers, and all the lights – then do a quick check of the building to ensure everything’s off for the night.

Computers, modems, and other electrical appliances often have power packs to boost their supply of electricity. Without them, many of your appliances won’t work.

But of course, they have an ugly side too. Power packs continue to eat up electricity even after you switch off.

Look around your home, and you may find up to ten of the little critters. Which means you could be wasting over 150kg of CO2 every year.

The advice? Switch them off at the wall socket.