North Americans use an extraordinary amount of electricity just for powering their computer habits everyday.  If you have to use a computer, and you have one available, use a laptop instead of a desktop computer.  While laptops usually have power requirements much less than 150 W, desktops can easily average 2 to 3 times that amount.  Desktops not only require a relatively large power supply for their internal electronics, but also separate power for the monitor and speakers.

Help yourself and the environment and switch to a lower power computing source.