In case you didn’t know — though if you’re a Consumerist reader, you probably do — that cell phone charger you have plugged into your wall socket is pulling power even when you’re not charging your phone. AT&T figures that enough power is wasted in the U.S. alone to power 24,000 homes for a year. That’s why they’ve gone all eco-savvy on us and announced their new ZERO charger.

The main selling point of the ZERO is that it doesn’t do what other chargers do — it stops leeching power from the socket once you disconnect your phone. So it should save you a little money on your electric bill.

AT&T is also pitching the product as a waste-reducing option. Instead of having a separate ZERO charger for each type of phone, the charger is really just a small block that can be attached to different phones with the use of interchangeable cables.

The ZERO is slated to go on sale at AT&T stores in May.

Is this something you’d be interested in?

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