These Gadgets Will Help You Save The Planet Without Even Trying

You do your best to conserve resources. You turn off lights when you leave the room (well, except for when you're home alone and — wait, what was that sound? Is someone in the apartment?!), and you try to keep your showers a "reasonable" length. If you want to cut energy waste even more, a few well-placed gadgets can do all the work for you — and save you money, too.

Big energy savings used to come in the form of new, energy-efficient appliances, the installation of solar panels, or other big-budget purchases that are out of the question if you don't actually own your home. Now, there are smaller and more reasonably priced products that you can plug in. Some switch off power when it isn't needed. Others track the conditions in your home and alert you when something is suddenly drawing more electricity than usual. There are even monitors for plants, so you don't waste water (or "kill your plant with love"). 

We've rounded up five options that make it dead-easy to have greater control over your power usage. You may even find out which of your roommates is the one who keeps leaving the refrigerator door open.