Are our habits ... a little wasteful?
The season of giving has gently passed for another year.
And with it — the wrapping paper, sticky tape, gift tags… and the quiet piles of what’s left behind.
The extra food, often wrapped in plastic.
The searching for that “perfect” gift.
The time, the energy, the effort.
Not wrong… just something to notice.
The quiet flow of energy in the home
Even something as simple as a search online uses energy.
And inside our homes, our everyday choices quietly add up.
A kettle uses around 0.1 kWh to boil —
roughly 3–5 cents in Australia each time.
A desktop computer can use 3–5 times more energy than a laptop,
especially when you include screens, routers and accessories.
A few other quiet contributors we often don’t think about:
- Television: ~10–20 cents for a few hours each evening
- Gaming consoles: similar again, depending on use
- Clothes dryer: around $1–$2 per load
- Air conditioner: anywhere from 50 cents to $2+ per hour depending on size and settings
- Electric hot water: one of the largest ongoing energy users in the home
These aren’t large on their own.
But over time… they form patterns.
Energy doesn't stop at the front door
And then… there are the choices outside the home.
Takeaway or drive-through meals —
the energy doesn’t disappear just because it’s not in your kitchen.
It’s still there in:
- food production
- refrigeration
- cooking
- packaging
- transport
Often costing $20–$50+ per meal,
along with the unseen energy behind it.
And just like the wrapping from gifts…
it often arrives wrapped as well — containers, lids, cutlery, bags —
used briefly, then discarded.
A simple comparison
At home, a simple meal might use:
- a kettle
- a stovetop or oven
- a plate and utensils we already have
- little to no packaging
Just a small amount of electricity…
and very little waste.
Outside the home, that same meal becomes:
more cost, more energy, more wrapping.
So we might carefully save a few cents boiling less water…
and then spend dollars (and far more energy) elsewhere without noticing.
Not wrong.
Just something to notice.
A quieter kind of awareness
There’s no judgement in this.
Just awareness.
Because it’s not only about saving on energy bills.
It’s about something deeper —
how we live, how we consume, and how lightly we walk on this earth.
A gentle shift might look like:
- noticing where energy quietly flows each day
- balancing what we save with where we spend
- choosing slower, simpler options where we can
- bringing more of life back into the home, and into our own hands
Not perfectly. Just consciously.
The gift beyond wrapping
Because the true gift isn’t in what we wrap…
or even what we save.
It’s in how we choose to live.
Here at Mitey Fresh, we’re leaning into a different kind of giving —
simple acts throughout the year.
Time.
Care.
Support for people, animals, and the natural world around us.
Small, steady deeds.
The kind that don’t end up in the bin.
If this way of noticing resonates with you ...
You may like to take the next gentle step through the
👉 Healthy Home Journey
a guided way to observe, understand, and respond to what’s happening within your own home.
Or, if you’re simply looking for practical support,
our
👉 Healthy Home Shop
offers simple tools that quietly assist from moisture control to air purification and everyday essentials.
No pressure. Just a place to begin.
Refer to:
- Make It Cheaper With Zembl – Which household appliances use the most energy?
- iSelect – How much appliances cost to run
- Rethink Recycling – awareness on reducing waste and consumption
- Energy Wide Easy – free, independent government service.
