....from the dryer! Summer is the perfect time to reduce your carbon footprint by using solar power to dry your clothes. According to the State of California, the use of a clothesline can save 1,000 mw/day of electricity and they are encouraging residents to use clotheslines to help prevent brownouts there. They estimated that by hanging out just 1/4 of your laundry, you'll save $30 per year. The EPW Blog states, " There were more than 88 million dryers in the US in 2005. 'If all Americans line-dried for just half a year, it would save 3.3% of the country’s total residential output of carbon dioxide, experts say.' 3.3%! That’s huge if you think about how much CO2 all the households in the US emit. As for the impact on the wallet, the average clothes dryer costs about $160/yr to run. "Other benefits of hanging out: clothes smell great, less shrinkage, the sun kills germs, and clothes last longer (all that lint is worn-away fabric). I like it because I'm more aware of the outdoors--I have to be aware of the pollen count and plan for rain, although I do have lines strung in my basement for winter use.
I use an umbrella style clothesline which doesn't sag the way a line stretched from tree to tree does. Generally, I hang clothes upside down to prevent clothespin marks on my shoulders and things I don't want to fade get turned inside-out. I fold right off the line to smooth out any wrinkles but dressier clothes might need 2 to 3 minutes in the dryer on the "wrinkle release" setting. More tips can be found on the GardenWeb which has forums on all sorts of interesting topics!
