Powering Down One Appliance At A Time

I need an alarm clock but I don't need to use electricity. Here is the water-powered alarm clock we got yesterday.

According to the Consumer Electronics Association, in 1975 the average household had fewer than two electronic products. In 2007, the average household had 25 consumer electronic products (computers, DVD players, video game consoles, cordless phones, digital cameras, high-def televisions).

It’s going to take a lot more than energy efficient lightbulbs to make a dent in runaway energy use. It’s going to mean taking a long, hard look at what we are using electricity to do. I’ve been going room to room, looking at what’s plugged in and asking myself:

• Is it something I really value?
• If so, is there another way to accomplish the same task that uses less or no energy?
• Can I power this from a renewable energy source?

carpet sweeper

In the past week, we’ve replaced 2 items that use electricity. The water-powered digital alarm clock pictured above tells you time, date, temp and has a decent, though not overly loud, alarm. You need to change the water once every two weeks to keep it running. It is not backlit – which can be both a blessing and a curse. We’ll see.

We also bought a carpet sweeper (again, from Lehmans) to reduce the use of the electric vacuum cleaner. This thing sure does a good job picking up cat hair. And I might develop some arm muscles using it… which wouldn’t be bad.