As I was trying to think of new ways that my family could do a better job of conserving energy and reducing our impact on the environment, I thought about going back to using an old fashioned clothesline. While in my euphoric state of discovery I made the mistake of mentioning it to my wife who 1) had to hang clothes out to dry her whole growing up years and 2) has an extremely sensitive nose and does not care for the smell of “outside” (I have yet to fully understand this smell). So to try and get my ducks in a row and try and take another stab at convincing her, I did a little research and here is what I found.
While an electric clothes dryer is not the main culprit in your energy usage it does account for around 6-10% of your energy bill. If you have a family of four and you do roughly 7 loads of wash each week that adds up somewhere between $154.00 and $178.00 per year. When you compare that to a clothesline that cost around $29.00 and $78.00 it starts to sound like the making of a good deal. For you that have the immediate thought of the ugly line permanently strung across the yard you will be glad to know that here are many different and interesting styles to choose from. I must say it was not as much of a true dollar savings as I initially thought but looking at the budget saving money of any mount is a welcome alternative. However, I do not think we can afford, today, tolook only at the hard dollar cost without adding to it, the cost to the environment.
If you were to air dry clothes 6 months out of the year you would save 700 pounds of carbon from being emitted into the atmosphere. This does not even factor in the effect of laundry softeners and anything else you may throw in your dryer. For a more in depth conversation on this and other green laundry tips ,the Greenguide has an interesting article. Now if you step back and consider that that if 25% of the U.S. used air drying for six months we would be able to keep 44 million TONS of carbon from being emitted and oh yeah buy the way it will pay you back within 6 months, I think the clothesline has a place in our homes and lives. For you all that live in subdivisions with a HOA, check to make sure that they allow clotheslines. If they do not allow them, push them to allow them in the back yard, even if it is only certain days of the week. There are many indoor clothesline options our there if you cannot convince them or if ,like my wife, you do not like the smell of the "outdoors". If you want to learn a little more about the advantages of hanging laundry check out the laundrylist. Well wish me luck on selling my wife on the idea and I urge you to give it a try, you have nothing to lose and while at it you can help our greatest asset.... the earth.