Recently my summer came home during spring break. There were lots of adventures to report that’s another story! Anyway, like most college kids, he is on a very different schedule than the grown ups… Anyone living under the same roof with the college sub-species knows what I am talking about. They stay up late, texting, playing soccer and hoops, gaming, and of course eating.

What does this have to do with my sustainable living blog? We have become accustomed to switching off the power strips on the TVs, sound systems, computers, and other appliances in the house when he is away at school. This is done not only to keep carbon out of the air by reducing our electricity load but it also saves about $20 a month on our electric bill! But when Joe College is home, and he is gaming, online and watching bad TV, all of those electronic devices are still pulling power, into the wee hours. Since the adults are early risers, there is not much down time, even if he switches off the power strips when e finally goes to bed for the night.

My somewhat obsessive subconscious was lamenting this conundrum and then it dawned on me: What if we plugged our electronics into “Smart Strips”? Smart Strips are the kind of power strips that automatically shut off energy hog appliances that are continually drawing power, while allowing some appliances that need continuous power, such as the house phone, to stay “on”? Now THAT would allow electronics to turn on when needed, and automatically off when not in use. AND the Smart Strip would pay for itself in a month or two! As utility rates continue to rise, Smart Strips will be everywhere.

Is that enough reason to buy smart strips for your house? If not, here are is one more reason. We are giving $5 from the sale of every Smart Strip power strip sold in Vermont to the Vermont Foodbank to help support cold and hungry people!

Excuse me, I need to go now and order a bunch of those Smart Strips from my wholesaler. We are having a run on them! By the way, you can buy Smart Strips right here! Do you have Smart Strips in your house and if so, how do you like them?