On this Earth Day, April 22, a green tech company here in Silicon Valley is asking everyone to unplug their household appliances to show how much money they can save and how much they can also save Mother Earth.
Employees of People Power Co., which makes sensors that can be deployed around a house, monitor electricity use, and power down appliances where appropriate, is embarking on a cross-country trip from Palo Alto to Washington, D.C. CEO Gene Wang, who’s also an amateur musician, will lead his People Power Band to perform on the National Mall during Earth Day activities. The group will travel to D.C. in a “People Power Bandwagon,” a vehicle that will emit three times less carbon pollution compared to flying.
I wrote about People Power releasing a free software development kit for inventors to create new sensors last month for VentureBeat.
People Power estimates that if a typical home unplugged its discretionary appliances for eight hours a day for a year, the home owner would remove 6,700 lbs of carbon out of the air—equivalent to taking 250 cars off the road.
Discretionary appliances could be TVs, computers, dishwashers or laundry equipment, many of which draw electrical current even when they are off. And don’t forget that cell phone charger plugged into the outlet. Refrigerators are a big energy user, too, but I’d be inclined to leave that plugged in because the cost of spoiled foods could cancel out the energy savings.
People Power says by producing just 20 percent energy savings for U.S. households, consumers would save over $32 billion a year and carbon emissions would be reduced by 187 mega tons—equivalent to taking 40 million cars off the road for an entire year.
The public is also invited to download People Power Green X Calculator from the company’s Facebook page to figure out how much energy they can save in their own homes.
Earth Day was founded in 1970 by then U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, an environmentalist. Little known fact: Nelson was my senator, having grown up in Wisconsin and was governor of that state in the 1950s.
Comments
We made it across country in record time and we are so looking forward to playing on the National Mall on Saturday! Along the way, we saw lots of wind power generators off Route 80, particularly in Iowa. And once while driving down the road, a guy I hadn't spoken to in months called and said, "Gene, is that you driving down 80 in the People Power Band Bus???" I guess people noticed the 5 foot sign on the side.
It has been said that we are the first generation to understand the dire threat of climate change and also the last generation that can do something about it. In America, we contribute more carbon pollution per capita than any country by far, and as Americans, we can make a difference. So let's cut our energy waste, leave our kids a nice planet to live on, and save money while going green. Earth Day is April 22. Unplug for Earth Day!
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