Good Morning! Don't you just love it when your family does half of your job for you? Well, that is the case with today's post. You know, it was really ironic that Irina (my German exchange sister) sent me a note on facebook regarding clothes lines in America, because I had been thinking of trying to use my dryer a lot less, but thinking about it doesn't really count. I, of course, will include her huge compliments in the note that I have copied here.
Dear Judy,
I love reading your blog, I am amazed at how much and how professionally and yet with your very personal style you write. I had to laugh hard about the fridge cleaning.
Yesterday I was thinking about the little conversation we had about dryers. There was a long article in our newspaper about the fight FOR clotheslines in the US! I had no idea that there were areas where they were outlawed! Colorado apparantly just passed a law against the outlawing. I found this link to the information in English which I'm sure you'll be interested in, if you didn't already now! Matthias and I made a vow to each other to NOT buy a dryer when we become parents, as friends of ours just recently suggested we probably would.
Much love!
Irina
The conversation that she is referring to is one that we had over a post on how green I am. Well, Irina really put me in my place (LOL), I had blogged about double spinning your clothes because it takes them much less time to dry that way, and she reminded me that they don't even have a dryer, and think that spinning twice is even too much energy to use. Since that time it has really gotten me thinking. Why do I only hang bedding out in the fresh air to dry? Should The Royal Ranch have a clothesline? Well, of course it should! And, most importantly how do we as Americans rank when it comes to using our eco-friendly resources? This is what Irina had to say when I asked her if they were more "green" than most Germans, and how they are compared to us lazy Americans (again, LOL):
Yes, I think we are more eco-aware than the average German. We are e. g. pretty good in not taking the car when train, tram or bicycle does the transportation job, too. But we do have a car (rather Matthias has one), Matthias is car pooling to work, while I take the bicycle or the tram. But we are no heroes and do use the car occasionally.
But I also think that the average German is more eco-aware than the average American. It probably partly has to do with our history and the times during and after WWII where resources were scarce and "saving" was a survival attitude. I remember my Grandma sending me to the bakery (and that was in the 70ies) with the paper bag from the day before, or the day before that. Why getting a new one when the old one was still good? Or wrapping paper. My mother always kept and reused (didn't iron, like some do!), and I do the same thing. The unwrapping takes longer and gets more exciting when you carefully open to not harm the paper, too.
Please feel free to blog about this, but please don't think I'm missioning.
Much Love!
Irina
I had to laugh about her thinking she was "missioning", here I am almost eveyday bragging and blogging about how green I am, and they put me to shame! To a certain extent, I think it is time to be do some missioning when it comes to being earth friendly! Whether we are coming from an economic standpoint (you know, too broke to afford it?), or for health reasons (sensitive allergies, skin conditions, asthma, etc.) it is so important that we take care of our Mother Earth.
So...I am going to make myself a clothesline and use it, one more step I can take. Laundry for me is very simple, as we are a jeans, t-shirt and hoody family, no "work" clothes, so I have just learned to throw everything in the dryer and not think twice about it. As a matter of fact, I love my dryer because it and my washing machine do my work while I can do other things. But, maybe that is part of the problem, I should probably do my own work!
I would love a little feedback from my great readers though. Do you all use clotheslines? How do you keep your clothes from feeling stiff when you do use one? Does your town/state have a law regarding clotheslines? Do you always dry your clothes outside, or do you have an indoor rack?The pictures are of a clothes rack that my Mom fell in love with when she was visiting Irina a couple of years ago. I really want to thank my German family for their help on this, Matthias even sent me these pics from the hospital where he was on call! Speaking of that, when they become parents, does that make me an "American Exchange Aunt"?
4 comments:
Dear Judy,
I just HAVE to comment on this!
Thanks for making me look like a green angel. I’m not. We do double spin when we dry indoors, only when it’s sunny out I’ve thought it’s a waste.
For the stiff laundry: there are chemicals that you can add to the water to soften. Or for towels you can just leave it and imagine it’s a massage, and again: money saved.
For the work aspect: I am a great fan of washers including dish washers. The energy needed for using them is just nothing compared to the water, heat and body energy you need when doing it by hand. It’s different with dryers, because air and wind are free. The hanging of course is work, but not so bad. And laundry dried outside smells so good! Only thinking of fresh Rocky Mountain air in your bed sheets makes me wanting to return to the Royal Roost immediately! I promise I come back when you have a clothes line ;-)
I took the picture from underneath the rack to make you aware of your pets’ perspective…
I am death curious to see your countrymates’ comments on this…
Irina
Dear Judy,
Most laudry I do I take out of washer and hang right on the hanger. With the dry Colorado air the garmets are dry in no time. I even prefer to have jeans air dry. Jeans never get dryed in the dryer. Another fact, clothes will last longer if air dryed versus dryer dryed!
Dave
Ooh, I like the drying rack! We have environmental allergies that stop me from large-scale outdoor drying. Instead, I air-dry heavy items like jeans and sweats before they go in (on the delicate or air only cycle) to keep them soft. I use anti-static dryer balls instead of fabric softener. They work so well!
It really is all about changing habits and doing things differently. Lots of opportunuties for going green on laundry day! Like those new front-loading horizontal drum washing machines, they not only use less water, they then spin the clothes SO FAST that they come out almost dry!
We just put those 'almost dry' clothes on this new round laundry drying rack we got (usually set up under our ceiling fan) and save a ton of energy by not using the clothes dryer at all.
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