While out yard saling the other day, my husband picked up an electric pencil sharpener, and I immediately started to question whether we needed one. I mean, sure we sharpen a lot of pencils at our house, but our little hand-held sharpener has always gotten the job done AND gotten it done without electricity.

Wasn’t it better then, to forgo electricity when we could? To use our own power to complete simple tasks? We decided that it was, and left without the electric sharpener.

Want to cut back on the amount of electricity that you use?

Consider these simple changes:

• use a wisk and a bowl, instead of a mixer
• use a regular razor, instead of an electric razor
• use a hand-held can opener, instead of an electric can opener
• use a crank radio, instead of an electric radio

Eager to upgrade to LED light bulbs, but turned off by the price? Then, ease in with LED nightlights. They sell for as little as $2 a piece, and pack the same high-tech punch.

Why switch to LED nightlights?

Because they:

• use 90% less energy than incandescent nightlights
• cost 27-cents a year to operate
• last 15 times longer