According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Americans’ 275 million TV sets burn through some 65 billion kilowatt hours of energy each year, representing four to five percent of U.S. household electricity consumption. Each U.S. household spends around $200/year for electricity to power their TVs and related equipment.

While screen size has continued to increase, the overall mass of televisions is much smaller than back in the days of boxy cathode ray tube (CRT) sets. And many new flat screen models (LCD, OLED or plasma) sport hyper-efficient screens that can be tweaked even further by the user to reduce their power needs.

“Even though televisions are the most widely owned device in the U.S., with a 97 percent household penetration in 2013, their total annual electricity consumption dropped 23 percent from 2010,” reports the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the trade group for electronics manufacturers that puts on the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) ENERGY STAR program certifies appliances, electronics and other energy-efficient consumer items to help Americans save money and protect the climate through saving energy. If you’re shopping for a new TV, start your search at EnergyStar.gov, where you can find and compare new models that are all at least 25 percent more energy efficient than conventional ones.

The easy-to-use site allows you to check-off which brands, screen sizes, technology types, resolutions, and other features you’re looking for before it serves up a list of matches complete with estimated energy use over a year. The EPA reports that if every TV, DVD player, and home entertainment system purchased in the U.S. this year qualified for an ENERGY STAR label, consumers would keep some 2.2 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions out of the atmosphere, the equivalent of taking 200,000 cars off the road.

Of course, buying a new TV introduces another potential environmental hazard: that associated with the disposal of your old set. Throwing your old TV in the garbage where it will end up in a landfill is not only bad for the environment, given the risk of chemical and heavy metal leakage, it is also typically illegal. If you’re buying your new TV from a local store, ask them if they can take back your old set. Also, the CEA’s Greener Gadgets website provides an up-to-date list of resources to find out how to responsibly recycle old TV sets and other electronics directly with the manufacturers or through third-party recyclers.


EarthTalk® is produced by Doug Moss and Roddy Scheer and is a registered trademark of Earth Action Network Inc. View past columns or e-mail us your question:

“Connecting the Gems of the Indian Ocean: Eastern Africa’s “Swahili” Civilization, Oman, and the Gulf” takes place from 8:30a to 3:30p, Thursday, March 5 in the Montpelier Room, sixth floor, James Madison Building, 101 First Street S.E., in Washington, D.C. The event is free and organized by The Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division, in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art. (For reservations, e-mail abat@loc.gov and put “Symposium Reservation” in the subject line.)

The symposium will focus on the historic, commercial, and cultural links that exists between the lands of the East African “Swahili” Coast, Oman, and other countries of the Middle Eastern Gulf region. Known to the navigators of antiquity in the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Persian Gulf, the east coast of Africa (comprising the coastal areas of the present-day nations of Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique), developed an identity very different from that of other African regions.

The panel discussion “Cuba, Africa, and the World,” which was earlier postponed, will take place at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 400 I Street, SW, in Washington.  The free discussion is Saturday, March 14, at 3:30p.

The panelist will include Piero Gleijeses (Professor at John Hopkins University), James Early (Board Member of the U.S.-Cuba Cultural Exchange), Mary-Alice Waters (Socialist Workers Party and President of Pathfinder Press), Heather Benno (Answer Coalition), Oscar Ordenes (DC Coalition to Free the Cuban Five and Humanist), Gnaka Lagoke (author of Revival of Panafricanism Forum), and a Representative of the Cuban Interests Section.

The discussion will convene “to reflect on what the future holds for the U.S., Cuba, and the world,” as the U.S. normalizes relations with the island and “on the contribution to Africa’s independence,” says Lagoke, who has been organizing pan-African conferences since 2007 including co-sponsoring the Thomas Sankara Remembrance.

• Port of Harlem Exhibit:  Our Children, World (includes Cuba)
  
  
• Port of Harlem Cover Story:  Our Cuban Cousins
  

Thank you for welcoming our e-mails in your inbox.  Now that's it 2015, let's start fresh!  I invite you to take a moment to update your information and areas of interest.

At the bottom of this email, click “Update Profile/Email Address” to update your information, especially your first name and last. Don’t forget to save your profile when you are finished.

The National Urban League’s President & CEO Marc Morial will discuss findings from the National Equality Index – measuring how Blacks and Hispanics are faring compared to Whites in education, economics, health, social justice, and civic engagement.

The Thursday, March 19 event is from 9a to 11a and is free.  AT&T is supporting the event at the Liaison Capitol Hill DC, 415 New Jersey Ave NW.  The Urban League suggests you make reservations.

The Walter E. Washington Convention Center will host the Travel and Adventure Show Saturday and Sunday March 7 and 8.  Ticket prices range from $11 to $16.  At this writing, Daley’s Destinations has three free passes for Sunday, March 8, 10:30a-4p.

“Come hear about great travel products,” says Dilworth Daley of Daley’s Destinations, who will be at the Jamaica Tourist Board booth on Sunday. You may reach Daley on 443-676-5739, to indicate your interest in the free passes. 

“The brazilian butt lift is a type of butt augmentation procedure which results in youthful, prominent, perky buttocks, and a more sensual body profile,” says one on-line advertiser. That’s some departure from characterizing Sarah "Saartjie" Baartman’s “protruding buttocks” as “wild.”

The Health Site gives Baartman no credit for the looks newfound popularity   The site reports that “Kim Kardashian has sparked 45 per cent of the total requests for bottom enhancing procedures over the last 12 months.”

Ghana Indepedence March 6 - Washington / NYC

 

 

• When You Have a Great Room
  (4th consecutive Snippets)

 

Obama Tells Fox News to go F***yourself