Going green is fashionable, but how easy is it to do? Many small changes that you can make in your everyday life will add up to a big impact on the environment - and a positive impact on your bank balance.
Simple ways to save the world
And the good news is that you don't have to buy a Toyota Prius to be more eco-friendly. In many cases, it's a simple matter of getting a gadget to do the hard work for you. Here are 10 steps you can take with technology to help save the planet.
Reduce
Before you can keep track of how successful you are at reducing your impact on the environment, you need to know what your impact is. A slew of gadgets, gizmos and software programs can get you started.
It's possible to modify your entire house to monitor its energy use. Agilewaves Resource Monitor links a flat-panel touchscreen with your home's power, water, gas and temperature systems. The panel lets you access real-time usage data (and time-lapse data) by floor, room, individual appliance, or specific utility.
You can also access the internet with it, of course.
If you don't have the big bucks to drop on digitising your house, consider a simpler alternative. You can plug P3 International's Kill A Watt (about £20) into any electrical outlet and then plug the appliance you want to measure into Kill-A-Watt.
The device measures kilowatt-hours of energy and tells you how much the appliance costs to run.
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