If you’re reading this there’s a pretty good chance you’re doing it on a computer screen. That screen — and everything it takes to make it work — uses energy. But you already know that, right? What you might not know is that the average desktop PC wastes half of the energy it consumes.

Yes: Half the energy it consumes is wasted.

While you probably can’t go back and redesign your computer right now to increase its energy efficiency, there is something you can do this Earth Day to greatly decrease the power it uses: set power management.

New Star Energy Services is an active affiliate member of a nonprofit called Climate Savers Computing Initiative, a group dedicated to increasing implementation of power management and expanding deployment of energy-efficient PCs and servers.

If you’re reading this at work then the computer you’re using has either already had its power management settings engaged or we’re in the process of making those changes network-wide. That is part of what we committed to when we joined Climate Savers Computing. It saves energy, it saves money, and it helps us reduce our carbon footprint — all of which are important to meeting our business and environmental goals.

So, you don’t have to worry about your work computer, but you probably have a computer or two at home that could use a power management tweak and you’ll be on the road to saving more than 600 KWh of electricity and up to $75 a year in energy costs. That equates to nearly half a ton of CO2 emissions. Not bad for a few minutes’ work, huh?

Thanks for getting involved in this small but powerful step – and while you’re gathered around the water cooler this Earth Day make sure you let others know how easy it is for them to make a difference, too.