The Power Button

Each and every one of us uses electricity every single day.  Whether it’s the laptop we are using to do our homework, or the lights above our heads in our classrooms, electricity has come to be something that we are unable to live efficiently without.  But what about unnecessary, and overuse of electronics?  While the use by just one person may not seem to have a great impact on the Earth, it is obvious that if everyone thinks this way, problems will begin to arise.

I am the first to admit that I could cut down my use of electronics tremendously; specifically with the fact that I leave my television on throughout the entire night.  That is usually 8 or more hours of the television running when I am not even watching it.  I started leaving the television on because I found the background noise comforting and it helped me to fall asleep.  At first, I would remember to shut the TV right before I fell asleep.  But as this bad habit progressed, I began falling asleep without even realizing, and leaving it on for the rest of the night.  Now, leaving the TV on has become a habit that is really difficult for me to break.  When I am home from school, my mom will come into my room every morning before she leaves for work, wake me up, and yell at me for having the television on, telling me that “I’m running up the electricity bill!”  While this is true, not only am I raising the electricity bills but I am also increasing my carbon footprint by a lot.

I have chosen to change this behavior, because it should not be a difficult behavior to change, but it can really make a big impact.  Saving 8 hours of running, unnecessary electricity, is a lot of electricity.  It also will probably benefit me as well, because my mom has told me countless times how sleeping with the television on is just not good for you in general.  Thinking she was just trying to get my to shut off the stupid TV, I looked into it and found that it actually can be detrimental to your health.  I do anticipate challenges in changing this behavior because it has been a bad habit of mine for such a long time.  I am going to need to consciously remember each night when I feel myself getting sleepy to just turn it off.  But I really look forward to hopefully breaking this bad habit because not only will it be having a beneficial impact on myself, but hopefully on planet as well.  And all I need to do is to remember to hit the power button.