What I call common sense, they call "Vampire Slayers Act"

In a battle I have fought here for years, leaving some items plugged in that are not necessary does add to your electrical bill, it's something that many people don't seem to realize, yet to me it seems common sense. As this CNN article points out, New kind of 'vampire' sucks power out of homes, 5% of the power used in the US is to power things in "standby mode". Not everything needs to be on standby, I can understand wanting to leave certain appliances plugged in that have clocks or timers but there is really no reason to leave cell phones plugged in once they are fully charged, you actually kill the battery life when you don't constantly over charge a cell phone that has not been allowed to have the battery drain.

The International Energy Agency has estimated standby energy use by vampire electronics at 200 to 400 terawatt-hours a year. The entire country of Italy consumes about 300 terawatt-hours of electricity each year, according to the agency.

Picture any appliance that displays a clock while otherwise idle, such as a microwave oven, coffee maker or DVD player. They constantly consume little bits of energy.

"About 40 percent of the electricity being used to power your home electronics is consumed while they are in that standby mode," Walton said. "If you just focus on that piece, you will be making a big step."

Ditto for things that charge, such as cell phones, PDAs, toothbrushes or portable tools, some of which trickle a charge even after the device that's charging is at capacity.