$5 Major Appliance

I did some laundry this morning, and got to thinking about a workshop my husband attended at the Midwest Renewable Energy Association's Energy Fair a few years back.

The presenter had offered a "free major appliance" to workshop participants. At the end of the lecture on energy conservation, he made good on his promise, passing out...

Clotheslines!

When we moved into our new house, we deliberately decided against purchasing a clothes dryer.

I have no regrets. Sure, it takes a little longer to hang the clothes instead of just chucking them into the dryer, but we saved several hundred dollars right off the bat. But that's just the start.

According to the California Energy Commission, the average dryer lasts about 18 years, and costs about $85 per year to operate. At that rate, over its lifetime you will spend $1,530, just getting your clothes dry a little faster. (And future costs will be more, of course, as energy rates skyrocket.)

Compare that to the cost of a simple clothesline: $5, give or take a buck or two.

Some other advantages of doing it the old-fashioned way:

• In dry winter weather, letting your landry air-dry helps humidify your home.
• You'll have less wear and tear on your clothes, so they'll look nicer longer.
• You'll take a load off your conscience, realizing that you've eliminated the future disposal problem of a big hunk of solid waste, not to mention kept mercury out of the environment (if your electricity comes from a coal-burning power plant)
• If you don't already have a dryer, and elect not to get one, you'll save gallons of diesel fuel that would have been burned in transporting your machine, not to mention the savings on your back getting it into your basement!
• My tall friend Liz tells me she swears by hanging all her family's jeans to prevent them from shrinking up and becoming highwaters. (I'll take her word for it, being on the short side myself.)

We live a block away from a laundromat, so in a pinch I do have access to a dryer. But in 15 months since moving into our house, I have never felt I needed it.

So if you're looking for an easy way to give your environmental conscience a boost, go wash some clothes, and hang 'em!