When I was a kid a "charger" was a Dodge, not a collection of wires and black plastic. And back then, the amount of things we had plugged into the wall, you could count on two hands. Nowadays we have at least that many powerstrips, and every time we take a trip we've got to pack a crapload of chargers.

We are now a more power-efficient society than we've ever been. Our air conditioners, heaters and refrigerators all use way less juice than they used to. But unsurprisingly, all of those gains have been offset by all of the new crap we interact with and carry around, according to a study by the International Energy Agency.

But the world doesn't have to curb an insatiable appetite for ever more clever, exciting or fashionable gadgets, provided people chose the most efficient versions available, said IEA analyst Paul Waide.

"There is a way of having our cake and eating it at the same time by being much more proactive on efficiency," he said.

"We can hold total consumption at today's levels by using best available technologies, despite a dramatic growth in use."

Read all about it here.

via the ny times