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Skipping just ONE clothes-dryer load, and air-drying, can reduce your carbon footprint as much as burning an LED light for 275 to 350 hours (depending on its wattage).
Taking a one-way economy flight from New York to London, is equivalent to eating 278 hamburgers. (Of course, one could argue that the flight would likely still take place, with or without you on board).
I'd love to have a clothesline in the back yard, even for towels. But we have a huge walnut tree covering most of the back yard dripping sap all over everything, so that takes care of clean clothes.
Hmm, dryer use increases your carbon footprint? Surmised that for decades even if it wasn't stated in quite that manner. Ever since I started doing my own laundry I've air dried most of my clothing partly because most of its shrinkable fabric and partly because conserving energy (and reducing impact) is something that just seems like a smart idea. Can't hang dry linens (sheets, washable blankets in particular) in any practical manner indoors in the winter as there's simply not enough space in the houses I typically rent or own. Hang drying them outdoors means they might get dry in a week if the weather cooperates. Hardly ever does. In summer wildlife tends to chew on the fabric, poops on it, trees drip sap on it. As written, if you can avoid even ONE dryer load you're helping. So, multiply the dryer loads that were never even done every week for the past 40+ years...got to count for something!
Last edited by Parnassia; 01-11-2021 at 01:09 PM..
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Here where it rains as many as 9 -10 months of the year, I was surprised to see that a neighbor had clothes out on a line last August. We wear mostly "wash & wear" that would require ironing if line dried, negating much of the purpose of not using the dryer (about 1/3). An average 1 hour load in a dryer (electric) uses 6 kWh. If you are able to iron that load in an hour, the iron uses about 2.2 kWh. If we had less rain, we might consider line dry, then fluff up for a few minutes in the drier with the steam setting on.
Here where it rains as many as 9 -10 months of the year, I was surprised to see that a neighbor had clothes out on a line last August. We wear mostly "wash & wear" that would require ironing if line dried, negating much of the purpose of not using the dryer (about 1/3). An average 1 hour load in a dryer (electric) uses 6 kWh. If you are able to iron that load in an hour, the iron uses about 2.2 kWh. If we had less rain, we might consider line dry, then fluff up for a few minutes in the drier with the steam setting on.
I've found many wash and wear items that always end up a bit wizened when air dried can be spruced up with light spritzing from a spray bottle along with some gentle shaping/tugging to flatten wrinkles. However, my tolerance for minor fabric ripples may be higher than yours!
Last edited by Parnassia; 01-11-2021 at 03:28 PM..
What we need is a Tesla like battery powered clothes dryer.
That just moves the carbon footprint somewhere else.
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