I received a note a couple of hours ago from Marcel of Green Innovations Australia who let me know about a really interesting  non-profit campaign his company is running called Standby Saturday.

Standby Saturday  is the first  Australian  nationwide “All the time – every time” switch-off of non-essential electrical appliances and equipment such as TVs, computers, microwaves, stereos, playstations and mobile phone chargers, with the aim of significantly reducing Australia’s carbon emissions.  This campaign is the first in a series of global initiatives as Standby Saturday events occur worldwide on October 25.

The Australian Standby Saturday site can be viewed here and the global site here - learn more about the initiative and how you can participate.

It mightn't sound like much to switch off an appliance in standby mode, but the standby power draw (also known as vampire power or phantom load) from households in the USA alone is somewhere around 8 gigawatts. That's enough juice to keep eight large electricity generation facilities occupied. Globally, standby power consumption is said to account for around 1% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions.

An average of 10% of a household's power can be attributed to standy load. Statistics from the International Energy Agency show standby waste globally to be an estimated 4.8 Terawatt hours of electricity per year. A terrawatt is equal to one trillion watts!

As with many earth friendly changes you make to your lifestyle, your personal impact may not seem much, but collectively, it can help make a difference; so get involved in Standby Saturday this year - better still, start turning off non-essential items running on standby power today. You'll not only save emissions, you'll also save some cash too! :)

Related:

Standby power electricity consumption