U.S. workers want to work for socially and environmentally responsible companies and many are not doing simple things to help their employers conserve energy, such as turning off lights and computers when they are done using them. The study also found that employees are using some energy-saving measures at home but are not taking those same good habits to work with them.

If the percentage of America's 81.1 million office workers who are not turning off lights and computers at work took their energy-conscious behaviors to work with them, Sun estimates that those workers could achieve the equivalent of taking 6.1 million cars off the road in aggregate CO2 emissions.

Conducted in June, the survey polled 1,741 U.S. employees ages 18-54 who work for companies of 25 employees or more. Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of workers said they strongly or somewhat agree that it is important to them that their employer is an environmentally and socially responsible company. However, only 52 percent of workers are turning off the light when they leave a room at work. When asked what they do at home, 92 percent said they do in fact turn off the lights in their residence. When asked about computers, 58 percent said they turn off computers at home when they are done using them compared to a mere 34 percent at work. Another key finding was that 57 percent of workers are using "sleep" mode for their home computers so that the system will go into an energy saving hibernation state if not touched for a set amount of time. Only 44 percent said they use sleep mode for their computers in the office.

"Businesses don't cut power consumption - people do," said Dave Douglas, Vice President of Eco Responsibility at Sun Microsystems. "If you're an employee, these survey results show that you have an enormous opportunity to make a difference for our planet and to help America's business make better use of their economic resources. If you're an employer, bridge this gap by communicating about the issue and how everyone can benefit by taking small steps. The good news is that your employees care about the environment, but they may need your help in realizing how much they can actually make a difference."

"More than twice as much electricity is consumed by California businesses and industries than is consumed by the residential sector," said Wally McGuire, Director of Flex Your Power, an agency established by the State of California to educate consumers and businesses about energy efficiency. "Many employees forget how much they can do to reduce their energy consumption at work. If we all take even small steps, we can reduce the emission of global warming gases significantly and prevent power shortages during the hot summer months when electricity usage is high due to air.