Little Helpers 4 ingenious products to make your day easier
2
Eco quandary
2 FLOATING DRINK STAND
T H E R E A L I ST
Ever fantasize that your pool had a swim-up bar? It’s not so far-fetched. With five cupholders and a seven-foot UV-protective umbrella, this shady outpost is stable enough to withstand wind gusts and cannonballs. Pool Buoy, $250, mypoolbuoy.com. 1 STICK-ANYWHERE IPHONE CASE
For “Look, Ma, no hands!” ease, this cover has tiny suction cups so you can affix a phone to a kitchen cabinet for a cooking tutorial or on the dashboard when you’re using navigation. Zero-G Anti Gravity case, $50, megatinycorp.
3
4 DIGITAL TAPE MEASURE
This clever assistant goes the extra distance, calculating midpoints and memorizing your readings so you can take the guesswork out of handiwork. eTape16, $30, thegrommet.com.
4
3 STAIN-BLOCKING SHIRT
Go ahead and dig in to the messiest barbecue on offer. This machine-washable white tee is specially treated so water- and oil-based liquids roll right off. Elizabeth & Clarke shirt, $25, unstainable.ec.
Written by
Tanya Christian Photographs by
Philip Friedman
SHOULD I UNPLUG ELECTRONICS WHEN THEY’RE NOT IN USE? Focus on the electronics in your office and entertainment center (game consoles, desktop computers, printers, scanners, etc.) because they still draw power even when they’re turned off. This is called standby power, which makes up almost 10 percent of electricity use in a typical American home, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Plug all nearby electronics into a power strip that you can easily flip off. If you do this with the specific devices mentioned above, you’ll save significant energy, says Alan Meier, Ph.D., a senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in Berkeley, California. As for tracking down other standby-power vampires in your home? Here’s a trick: Feel the power supply (the back of a unit or a box attached to the cord). A warm-tothe-touch power supply is a good clue that the device is drawing—and possibly wasting—electricity. For an itemized report of how much energy all your appliances and devices are sucking up, invest in a Smappee sensor ($249, smappee.com), which connects to an app on your phone to monitor energy use. —KAITLYN PIRIE
AUGUST 2015
40
REALSIMPLE.COM
S O F T S T Y L I N G BY M A I T R A N ; I L L U S T R AT I O N BY P E T E R O U M A N S K I
1
