Do you use a dryer, or hang your laundry out? (electric, city)
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I hope this will change as "the green movement" moves forward - dryers are one of the biggest energy hogs in the home. We air dry about 50% of our laundry, mainly use the dryer for undergarments/socks, sheets & towels. All shirts we try to air dry, and pants I might stick in the dryer for a few minutes to help get wrinkles out before letting them air dry the rest of the way. It helps living in the south though where we tend to have milder/warmer weather year-round.
This is what I dont understand. I thought Americans are supposed to be inventive and instead there are Americans actually discussing whether to use a dryer or hang their laundry out. This whole "Climate Changing Hoax" has Americans moving backwards in time instead of forward. All this "Green" talk is, is libs telling everyone that they have to give up convenience items, but they themselves wont. Incredible!!!
This is what I dont understand. I thought Americans are supposed to be inventive and instead there are Americans actually discussing whether to use a dryer or hang their laundry out. This whole "Climate Changing Hoax" has Americans moving backwards in time instead of forward. All this "Green" talk is, is libs telling everyone that they have to give up convenience items, but they themselves wont. Incredible!!!
It's not only about the "climate change hoax" as you call it. Is a dryer a convenience item, sure, but like w/all convenience items if you are speaking merely economically, at what point do they become worth the cost? One of the biggest energy hogs in the average household is the dryer (anywhere from $.25-$.40/load depending on gas, electric, etc.). We'll use the small end, $.25 for example, now if you are single and do two or three loads a week, not a huge deal - $3 or so a month. However, if you have a big family and are doing laundry everyday, lets say 40 loads/month, now you're up to $10, still not a huge deal for most families, but over $100/year - plus wear and tear on your dryer so it won't last as long, and clothes will last longer if you air dry them as opposed to using your dryer - so some extra costs in there too. Honestly though, it really is very little 'extra' work for me to air dry my shirts or pants, in fact, even if I put everything in the dryer, I still have to take them out, hang them up and/or fold the laundry. So as far as 'convenience' goes, it really isn't much more 'effort' on my part to not use the dryer half the time. But economically, I hear people gripe and moan all the time about how their electric bill is so high, and gas is so expensive, and my question to them is, are you doing all you can to keep your costs as low as possible. 9 times out of 10, they aren't, lights are left on constantly, air conditioner is set to 68 all summer, 72 all winter, and the list goes on. So many people lack the desire to be responsible, like it's their God-given right to have all the luxuries of life at the absolute lowest cost while doing as little work as possible. I'm not attacking you indvidually, you may be one of the hardest-working people out there, and are just plain tired when you get home and are looking for any convenience you can get. But the majority of the people in our country have this mentality.
The bigger picture is beyond climate change though - I agree w/you, I think that point about the earth warming is somewhat overdone in the media it goes in cycles. However, the whole 'green movement' is about thinking beyond yourself, the effects our decisions today will have not only on the generations to come, but the effects on people around the world like in 3rd world countries where they have no say on what we do in our lives and the effects it has on them. Each load that is air-dried instead of running your drier saves 5 pounds of greenhouse gasses from going into the atmosphere. If you are a healthy person, you may not notice the air quality, but ask someone who deals w/asthma everyday if it makes a difference for people to air dry instead of run their dryer. Asthma diagnosis have sky-rocketed in our country in the past 30 years, and 64,000 people die annually in our country due to airborne soot (i.e. from respiratory diseases, ashtma, etc.).
Look, I'm not saying you are an awful person if you use your dryer all the time or anything like that - the greenhouse gases they emit are small compared to what our cars put out (the average SUV emits 14,000 lbs. of greenhouse gases) and I drive everyday (a small car, nonetheless, it emits a lot of gases too) - but I do think everyone should look at what they can do to make the quality of life better for everyone in the world, not just themselves, that is within reason, i.e. recycling, conserving energy, etc.
The bigger picture is beyond climate change though ... the whole 'green movement' is about thinking beyond yourself, the effects our decisions today will have not only on the generations to come, but the effects on people around the world like in 3rd world countries where they have no say on what we do in our lives and the effects it has on them. Each load that is air-dried instead of running your drier saves 5 pounds of greenhouse gasses from going into the atmosphere.
Look, I'm not saying you are an awful person if you use your dryer all the time or anything like that - the greenhouse gases they emit are small compared to what our cars put out (the average SUV emits 14,000 lbs. of greenhouse gases) and I drive everyday (a small car, nonetheless, it emits a lot of gases too) - but I do think everyone should look at what they can do to make the quality of life better for everyone in the world, not just themselves, that is within reason, i.e. recycling, conserving energy, etc.
Thanks for that info, Buckeye.
It's the little things that add up and the totals that count.
There are 6.6 billion humans sharing this planet, so each small change we make as individuals can become a huge change when viewed collectively.
You don't have to be 'green' to save energy - plain common sense should tell us not to be greedy, and to put a little effort into saving resources. The facts speak for themselves - we shouldn't be taking more out of this planet than our fair share.
Currently we are in the 5% of the world's population which consumes 24% of its resources. And, horrifyingly, we throw away much of that - literally, in the garbage - as well as by burning unneccessary energy in using cars, dryers and other machines instead of using our own efforts - and by using lights, heating, a/c etc which we leave on unattended.
As a Brit, I am accustomed to hanging laundry out to dry in the back yard - and if it's wet out I'd hang it on racks in the house.
I own a dryer, I just use it as rarely as possible. If I was in a rush (I have 3 kids, and I work) I'd put the socks and underwear in the dryer, but still hang the bigger items out.
An American friend (from LA) nearly died laughing watching me hang the laundry outside, and since living here in the US I have seen no washing lines outside.
Please tell me I am not alone in my desire to dry my clothes naturally - for free?
i hate using a dryer because it destroys my clothing. if you look at the lint that is left over after a cycle you will get a better understanding of how much a dryer wears fabric down. in addition it tends to shrink stuff if you aren't careful.
then there is the energy wastage......
we don't need them
This is what I dont understand. I thought Americans are supposed to be inventive and instead there are Americans actually discussing whether to use a dryer or hang their laundry out. This whole "Climate Changing Hoax" has Americans moving backwards in time instead of forward. All this "Green" talk is, is libs telling everyone that they have to give up convenience items, but they themselves wont. Incredible!!!
well i don't believe in the "man made global warming" hypothesis. what i do know is that we are reaching a point where there will be energy shortages.
energy is energy, whether you are using oil, coal, nuclear, wind, tidal, gas, solar, geothermal, hydro, biofuel etc. shortages in one area, say crude for transport, will be subsidized by electricity from coal or nuclear to drive the electric car for instance.
now i'm not a big fan of coal, oil, biofuel and nuclear power because they all have serious environmental drawbacks (smog, acid rain, deforestation, radioactivity, soil erosion), i hate being held ransom buy the suppliers and they are all FINITE. having said that i'm also not a huge fan of inconvenience.
the bottom line is that energy is something that we should respect and not waste. the attitude of "conservation is holding us back" is dangerously flawed and will come back to bite us.
I recently only use my dryer. Honestly though I love 2 stand out when it's just warming up,and hang my familys cloths.I find it kind of relaxing,a little quite time 2 myself&a good time 2 pray.I'm going 2 hang me a new line(lines),soon.Then I will go back 2 using line 1st,dryer 2nd ,running cloths through dryerw/dryer sheet 2 help soften&freshen up.I hate stiff cloths,especially those jeans!
Here's something I've been doing with my dryer. In winter time, disconnect the exhaust hose and let the dryer exhaust into the house. The heat and humidity are 2 things you need in winter time anyway. This is OK on an electric dryer, but be careful doing it on a gas dryer. I do this on my gas dryer, but you need to use some common sense. I turn on the furnance blower to kind of 'mix up' the air in the house so that the dryer exhaust doesn't linger in 1 spot. By doing this, your furnance will run less and you will achieve 100% efficiency from your dryer and conserve energy if you are concerned about that.
I cannot stand hang-drying clothes unless the actual article of clothing mandates it, even then, most times, it's sent off to the dry cleaners. I like extra soft, fluffy, and love my fabric softener sheets. I love my dryer. We're buds. <3
After reading this thread, I pledge to run my dryer empty once a week just to waste energy.
i'm guessing that's not the only thing of yours which runs empty......
.....your dishwasher too?
Last edited by 58robbo; 09-07-2008 at 01:46 PM..
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