Did you know that 40 percent of the electricity your TV, computer monitors, XBox and all those devices use is used while they are “off?” I didn’t! I though I was being green when I shut them down. Turns out, they are just standing by…hardly very green.

I’ve tried to reduce our use of paper by going electronic. I publish my newsletter electronically now. I read my favorite magazines in PDF format. I pay my bills online. I have my kids write their papers and submit them to me by email. But if the energy I use negates my efforts to save trees, then how can I justify it?

Thankfully, my husband John (geek-extraordinaire) is just as worried about the environment as I am. So he helped me find ways to make our digital life just as green as our analog one.

1. Turn it all the way off. All of it. The easiest way to do this is to put everything electronic - TV, DVD, GameCube, Computer, Printer onto a power strip and turn off the power strip at the end of the day. Are you worried that it takes too long for your computer to power up in the morning? No worries, just get in the habit of turning the power strip back on before you make your morning cup of coffee.

2. Recharge. I am shocked at the amount of batteries we go through. Get a rechargeable system and start recharging your electronics instead of constantly plugging new double A’s into them. It’s great that stuff like Gameboys and iPods all have their own rechargers, but there is still a lot of stuff that doesn’t. Although, I did get so sick of putting new batteries in the flashlight that I know have one that cranks!

3. Go solar. There are lots of companies out there now that sell solar rechargers for cell phones, iPods and the like. I even saw one that was integrated into a backpack!

4. Out with the old - OK not all the way out. Did you get a new cell phone? Donate the old one. Get a new computer? Call your local computer shop and find out how to recycle it. Or put it up on Freecycle.org. One man’s junk….don’t ya know!

5. Print smarter! Use the draft setting on your printer. Don’t print everything! That’s the beauty of the Internet and computers. Think, “do I really have to print this out?” Could I email it or put it on a shared server instead? Does my printer have duplex printing? Could I print on both sides of the paper (or save the paper for later and feed it in the other way)?

6. Get rid of the wireless. Wired mice and keyboards use less power - and there are no batteries! How far do you need to be from your computer anyway?

7. Get an LCD monitor. They use 85 percent less energy than those big honking, heavy things.

8. Get a laptop. They automatically use less energy than a desktop computer.

9. Kill unnecessary processes. You would be shocked (not literally!) by how much power is being used by programs that you have lurking in your background. Open up your task manager and kill everything that you aren’t using.

10. Go for a walk. Just shut it all down and go outside. No power at all being used there!

Oh - and one more. WhirlWhind Technology is now building the Echo PC available for just $750. You can order it online here!

I’m trying to get him to combine his geek skills with his carpentry skills and build a sexy wooden (green) case for it. What do you think?