True Colors: Hang Up Laundry to Lower Carbon Impact

Hang It Up

Want to reduce your electric bill? Cut the heat when you wash and dry your clothes.  In the average household, clothes dryers are the third largest energy consuming appliance. And roughly 90% of the energy used for washing clothes is for heating the water.  All that hot water and air is burning a hole in your wallet.  Not to mention the planet.

Two years ago, for our Carbon Conscious Consumer (C3) campaign, New American Dream calculated that if every household in the U.S. makes the switch to cold water for four out of five loads, together we'll save $6.7 BILLION per year and keep nearly 50 million tons of carbon out of the atmosphere – the equivalent of removing 10 million cars from the road.  If only 40% of those households also line dried their clothes, the annual carbon savings would more than double.  

In mild weather, a few yards of clothesline will earn you unlimited outdoor drying time. Project Laundry List's Right to Dry Campaign which fights against local ordinances prohibiting outdoor drying, and National Hanging Out Day, which educates the public about the energy impact of clothes dryers, have helped turn the act of hanging up clothes into an ethical stance.  In inclement weather, there is also the option of drying your clothes inside.  Indoors or out, air drying is a great way to save money on your energy bill, save wear and tear on your clothes, and shrink your carbon footprint.  And if you wash those clothes in cold water, (bookmark link to wash in cold facts below) you can save a bundle more on energy.

Don't heat up the planet – Wash in cold

Sometimes it's okay to ignore washing instructions on clothing labels. Today's more efficient clothes washers and laundry detergents make it possible to get even whites clean in cold water.  Since By changing the settings on all but your most soiled laundry, you can avoid needless energy expenditure…and save on energy bills.

The Green Laundry Calculator and general electric cost calculator will provide you a general idea of how the use of laundry appliances will affect your electric bill.

The Right to Dry

Though air drying is a great idea, some community's home owners associations prohibit it for aesthetic reasons.  The Center of New American Dream is launching a True Colors campaign to help campaigns such as Right to Dry allow people to dry their clothes on outdoor clotheslines.

"Right to dry" advocacy video hosted by CBS news.

Support Right to Dry by uploading a picture of your clothesline onto our Center for New American Dream's facebook album under the title "True Colors Take Action"!

 

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