Doing laundry is a chore most of us are faced with. Many of us have gotten away from hanging the laundry on a clothesline and have become accustomed to the use of a dryer. Project Laundry List aims to change that by encouraging people to use a clothesline. They also work on promoting changes in local ordinances against clotheslines. I have heard that there are such ordinances in place against clotheslines but can't understand the rationale behind it. I must be an aesthetics thing under the guise of safety. I have heard of some municipalities banning the old television antenna as a little assistance to the local cable company so who knows what is behind the clothesline ban.
Regardless of the reason, promoting the use of clotheslines is another return to simpler things that we have suddenly realized are environmentally friendly. I find it odd that now the environmental benefit of hanging clothes is realized. Before people hung clothes because the dryer and the electricity to power it were so expensive it didn't make sense to do it any other way. Waste became so cheap that we stopped thinking about it and now we look at old things as being revolutionary ways to save the world. Enjoy hanging the laundry and doing other things the "old school" way.
6 comments:
I do used to do that when I had the chore of doing the laundry except that we don't have a clothesline so we would drape the clothes over the railings on our deck. It worked out just fine! I love you blog! I will keep reading it. It is so interesting!
Important environmental issues you are highlighting here, i really like it!
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hi there, my partner went to a posh place in california several years ago, a place that's in the middle of the desert, yet has got 50 odd golf courses, and grass as lush as can be. Temperatures during the day frequently exceeded 50 deg. c., yet clotheslines were banned (apparently it lowered the property prices in this oh so special place), and people dried their clothes in driers...
Long live clotheslines i say...
In New Zealand, many people don't even own driers. The sun there is very intense and electricity is expensive so it is totally commonplace for people to line dry their clothes. It makes SO much sense to use the energy of the sun to dry clothes. It is more difficult to do that in Chicago with a north-facing apartment (where I live now), but there are certain items that I always hang dry (flat cotton sheets, kitchen towels, cloth napkins, pillowcases, and delicates). I think the drier has its utility, but they are definitely over-used. Go solar! Hang dry.
One rationale behind restricting the use of clotheslines is the recent reappearance in North America and Europe of our old nemesis the bedbug. Even though dryers could be considered a waste of energy by people trying to live green, it's also true that dryers dessicate and kill both bedbugs and their eggs.
Greener protocols like cedar chips or alcohol spray can discourage new infestations, but once they begin reproducing, the most effective remedies are unfortunately ungreen.
Ironically, the resurgence of these little creatures is partly the result of the banning of DDT. Over the last few couple of decades, bedbugs have slowly reestablished themselves. The increase in international aircraft travel, especially after the fall of the Soviet empire, has helped spread them.
www.banquokdangerfield.blogspot.com
There is just nothing fresher smelling than sun dried clothing and sheets. My husband accuses me of "snorting" the sheets. I do. Those UV rays kill bacteria and whiten also. The Texas sun shines bright and strong. Why use electricity when I have all that free energy just a few exercising steps from my back door. I am concerned for the future of our earth and those who will live in it, like my granddaughters, the inspiration for my own blog -
www.watchgrandmaonduty.blogspot.com
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