If you have been afraid of the dark as a kid you don't have any reason for being afraid now especially if you are living in an average Western household. It hardly ever gets dark anymore.

When we switch off the electric light in the night we are still surrounded with at least half a dozen of blinking lights throughout the night - the laptop LED light blinking in the sleep mode, a domestic wireless photo-printer that indicates that it is still on-line with a bright blue light, or the greenish light of your cell phone charging in the corner.

Things are no different in the kitchen - according to the recent surveys the number of kitchen appliances per household has doubled in the last 10 years in Europe. By 2010, 72% of Dutch households owned a freezer and 95% of the Schakelmateriaal (Dutch word for electrical plugs and sockets) all over the country had to cope with the presence of a washing machine.

It is not so hard to unplug all of these seemingly necessary gadgets which are eating up the electricity in the living rooms - despite what you are telling yourself now, you are not using that stereo, vintage turntable with a digital preamp or that electric heater every day. Unplug them and save energy. Unplugging and plugging the devices back in will provide you with some extra exercise that you probably needed anyway. This will also help you to notice the actual times that you need to use the devices you have. If you have not been using a device for over 6 months or even over a year consider selling it, exchanging or giving it away.

In the kitchen, we find bread baking machine, coffee maker, fresh juice squeezer, bread-cutting machine, a dish-washer and to crown it all - throw in a small laptop or a tablet computer, a Kindle or other reader and the inevitable TV-set. This all sounds like a little too much for a room designed to serve to the purpose of cooking and consuming meals. Think about all the appliances you have in the kitchen, sell or donate those you are not using.