Your Dirty Laundry

I read this article in an email I get from National Geographic's Green Guide. I love hanging my clothes out on the line on nice sunny, breezy days. They smell fresher and, if hung right, finish up looking as if they were ironed. Nothing smells nicer than sheets hung out to dry! Another plus is that I fold them as I take them down, killing two birds with one stone...instead of taking them out of the dryer and dumping them on my bed or pool table to fold later. Then they just end up a big wrinklie mess!

I am wondering how many others out there like to hang out their clothes to dry? How many don't even have a clothesline in their backyard?

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Tip of the Week
By Solvie Karlstrom All Posts
Hangin’ Out
Filed under: Clothing and fabric, Green living, laundry products
11:10 am - August 21, 2008

Right about now we're all scrambling to take advantage of the few remaining weeks of sunshine. We're high-tailing it to the beach, taking our kids to the park and spending as much time outdoors as possible. Why not give our laundry the same opportunity? Sunlight is a natural bleaching agent and disinfectant, and line drying just one load of laundry keeps 3.35 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Plus, keeping clothes out of dryers keeps them looking newer longer.
In spite of the benefits of line drying, numerous community homeowners associations in North America and parts of Europe restrict the use of outdoor clotheslines--sometimes banning it entirely--arguing that clotheslines are eyesores that can lower the value of nearby properties.
Click here to see some of the communities that restrict or ban clotheslines, and if your neighborhood prohibits them, visit Project Laundry List and join the Right to Dry campaign.

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If you have a clothesline, but haven't used it in a while, I encourage you to try to hanging out at least one load a week. I bet you'll find that you actually like it and may find yourself doing it more often!