Dumb Consumer Item of the Month - Always On Devices

Everything sucks energy these days, even when they aren’t being used. This is the brilliance of phantom load, or vampire, power.

Take a look around your house. TV in standby mode? It’s wasting watts all the while it is waiting to be watched. 

Is your phone charger in the outlet with nothing plugged in? It’s still sucking power. Same with that desktop or laptop computer that is turned off, but still plugged in. Many of our devices aren’t necessities. Rather, they’re conveniences dressed up as a super smarty progress for the people. 

And the real kicker? The ''smarter'' your technology gets, the dumber it is about using energy. We’re talking billions of watts wasted globally when we could just say no, unplug a charger, or flip a switch. It’s kind of like leaving your car idling all night because you might want to drive to the store at 3 a.m.

Waste is the new smart. We’ve been sold this idea that a “connected” home is the future, but it’s just a fancy new way of burning through our dwindling energy resources while making us more sedentary than ever before. We’re so obsessed with making life short term easier that we’re making the planet long term harder to live on. 

Every watt these vampire gadgets suck up is another step toward an emptier energy tank.

So, what’s a simple-living energy minimalist to do? 1. Unplug! Yank those chargers out of the wall like you’re pulling weeds. 2. Get yourself a smart power strip that cuts the juice to standby devices—ironic, I know, but it works. 3. Turn off the Wi-Fi router at night; the internet will still be there in the morning. 4. Ask yourself if you really need a fridge that texts you when you’re low on eggs. 5. Live simply, own fewer devices, and drive a wooden stake in the chest of that vampire power suckage for good. In a world where waste is a feature, not a bug, all we have to do is pull the plug. 

This applies to individual actions, as well as to pulling the plug on the entire wasteful system.

How are you pulling the plug?

No Buy 2025 Trending

Fighting back against the consumer machine has been around for as long as there has been a consumer machine, but the No Buy 2025 movement seems like it could be a breakout moment.

No Buy 2025 is a response to the illogic of buying things we don't need. More and more people are saying “enough” to having buying stuff as the central goal of life. 

Increasingly these budding ex-consumers are realizing that they don’t need half (or more) of the stuff they have been spending money on. And all the while, also saving money, paying down debt, and doing better things with their time than engaging in recreational shopping.

Alongside its cousins, Low Buy and Slow Buy, this phenomenon has been gaining traction as a way to reject the hollow promises of consumer culture and embrace a simpler, more intentional life. 

Here at Not Buying Anything, it’s great to see so many waking up to the scam of “more is better.” Another great thing is that it is a global movement which is popping up wherever consumerism is exploiting the masses.

 

The No Buy 2025 challenge is exactly what it sounds like: a pledge to stop purchasing non-essential goods for the entire year. 

While the rules vary from person to person, it could mean no fast fashion, no impulse gadgets, no trendy decor to clutter your space, and/or no restaurant meals. 

Essentials like food, rent, medicine, and toilet paper stay, but everything else like “treat yourself” moments or late-night internet shopping binges, gets the boot. 

Low Buy and Slow Buy are related anti-consumer movements that encourage mindful spending rather than a total freeze, which are good places to start if you are new to this way of thinking. 

Low Buy could mean limiting purchases to secondhand or sustainable options, while Slow Buy emphasizes waiting (like the 48-hour rule, or ask these questions first), to curb impulse buys. 

All three share a core mission: breaking free from the consumer hamster wheel that keeps us broke, stressed, and disconnected from what matters.

A recent report noted that 83% of consumers are ready to slash non-essential spending if finances tighten further. 

Don’t wait, I say. 

As we’ve said before here, a small footprint life isn’t about deprivation; it’s about intention and balance.

No Buy 2025 is more than a trend; it’s a wake-up call. It’s about flushing the “crapification” of life—a term for the degradation of quality that consumer culture dumps on us. Things have been getting crappier and more expensive at the same time, a double whammy that only makes the inherent dissatisfaction worse.

Whether you go full No Buy, ease into Low Buy, or practice Slow Buy, the point is to live thoughtfully and deliberately.  

Have you been taking part in one of these challenges this year, or are you planning on making the move soon?

If so, what are your rules, and how is it going?