Clotheslines: Eyesore or Green Alternative?
In Some Communities the Right to Dry Clothes Outside is Threatened
Apr 30, 2009
To an ever growing group of people trying to do their part in saving the environment, it makes sense to unplug the clothes dryer and hang their clothes outside to dry. In 2007,drying clothes outside was one of Time Magazine’s 51 Things We Can Do to Save the Environment. It is a simple way to go green and save money that is engendering controversy all across the United States and Canada.
Clotheslines Banned
Many condo and homeowners’ associations have banned the use of clotheslines. Some see it as just plain ugly, a blight on an otherwise well kept neighborhood. Others worry that house prices might fall if buyers, seeing a clothesline in the neighboring yard, assume that the family who lives there can’t afford to buy a clothes dryer. Some opponents to solar drying go so far as to say that legalizing clotheslines could be dangerous and cause injuries, making their insurance rates go up.
To that, Morton Dorothy, an Illinois Project Laundry List member says in an interview in The Chicago Sun Times, May 23, 2008, “Has anyone heard of someone being seriously hurt by a clothesline? Mechanical dryers on the other hand, are responsible for 4% of residential fires causing 10 deaths and $97 million in property damage each year.”
Advocates for Clotheslines and Air Drying Clothes
According to its website, Project Laundry List is a” nonprofit organization which aims to demonstrate that personal choices can make a difference for the earth and its people.” The group takes it one step further in their mission statement, which states that “making air drying laundry acceptable and desirable as a simple and effective way to save energy.”
Executive Director Alexander Lee is an advocate of legislation that would allow people to use clotheslines even in community associations that ban them. Laws like these have been passed in 12 states including Florida and Colorado, and Ontario, Canada recently passed a law protecting the right to hang clothes outside. Legislation is pending in seven other states.
Some Advantages Of Air Drying Clothes:
- Conserve energy and the environment while reducing climate change
- Save money, for many households up to $25 a month.
- Clothes that are air dried last longer.
- Clothes and linens that are air dried smell better without the chemicals found in most dryer sheets, and fabric softeners.
- The sun is a natural bleaching agent and sanitizer.
To some folks the clothesline is a romantic reminder of simpler times. To others, it is an eyesore to be banned from public view. To its advocates, it is a legitimate way to help save the planet. Who will prevail is anybody’s guess.
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