Kentucky environmental lawyer Sanders says cut out needless energy waste in your home and office.

Here's some easy ways to cut standby energy losses in your home and stop the energy vampires in your house and office:

Unplug products that are rarely used. The best example is the television and VCR in the second guest room.

Use a power strip with a switch to control clusters of products. Turn off the power strip when the equipment is not being used. The most likely targets are computer clusters (PC, display, printer, scanner, speakers, wireless transmitter, etc.), video clusters (TV, DVD player, powered speakers, game consoles, etc.), audio clusters (receiver, amplifier, CD players, etc.).

Be sure to keep the set-top box and modem on a separate circuit to avoid loss of connection.

Buy low-standby products. This sounds like reasonable advice but it's nearly impossible to follow because few products list their standby power use.

Most Energy Star endorsed products have lower standby energy usage.