Nokia sent me some interesting stats on cell phone charging. It's amazing to see how such a little device can have a big environmental impact.

Two-thirds of the energy consumed by a mobile phone during its usage is lost when the phone is fully charged and unplugged but the charger is left connected to the outlet. Unplug your mobile phone charger from the outlet when the phone has been charged, and unplug similar chargers that are not in use. If the phone is not in service but warm to the touch, it is using energy.

If only 10% of the world's mobile phone users unplugged their chargers from the power supply once the battery is full, we could save enough energy to power 65,000 homes a year.

The company is tackling this with the first mobile phone that will alert/nag you to unplug the charger when it's fully charged.

The folks over at 1E, the NightWatchman software people, sent over some interesting stats from their and the Alliance to Save Energy's 2007 PC Energy Report (PDF) compiled by Harris Interactive.

Though 1E's software can remotely and automatically shut down PCs (it saves docs, closes apps, don't worry), the company is nonetheless asking US workers to turn their systems off for Earth Day when they go home today. If everyone participated, the United States would:

• Prevent the release of 39,452 tons of CO2 emissions
• Save $4.7 million in utility costs
• Reduce energy consumption by 54.3 million kWh

Earth 911 brings us these sobering e-waste stats:

Computers: In 2005, the National Safety Council estimated that 63 million computers became obsolete. It is estimated as of 2007 these stored computers will amount to about 500 million computers.

Cellular phones: As of 2005, estimates indicate that over 130 million phones are disposed of every year. Many consumers store old cell phones because they are unsure of how to discard them.

Batteries: Batteries are made with toxic substances that must be recycled to avoid land and ground water contamination. According to the U.S. EPA, despite the fact that batteries make up less than
1% of municipal solid waste, they are responsible for a large portion of toxic heavy metals found there.

You can help change that by visiting Earth 911 and getting informed about electronics recycling.