The "Right to Dry” ....... Make hanging legal

[RedEarth]

Make hanging legal

Bill Denneen




My Mom was so proud of her laundry hanging in the backyard. She always bragged that her clothesline was so much better than Mrs. Murphy’s who lived nearby; I couldn’t tell the difference and thought “So what?” but as a good little boy, kept quiet.

The instant city, Woodlands, has absolutely no clotheslines. I will give $10 to the first person that can show me laundry hanging in the sun in Woodlands. My next bike-tour there will be Labor Day, Sept. 1, meeting at the junction of Willow and Albert Way at 9:30 a.m. Join us.ÜAbout 10 percent of all energy used in California is used to dry laundry. In my opinion, we wouldn’t need Diablo if everyone in our state dried in the sun.

California receives a lot of sun; I love it. However, this state has more than 35,000 developments that have outlawedÜline drying. Why?ÜBoth Florida and Utah have “Right to Dry” laws, and legislation is pending in other states to do the same. I thought California was a “leader” state.

A group has formed called Project Laundry List (PLL) which is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization, started in 1995, whose goal is to demonstrate that personal choices can make a difference for the Earth and its people. The focus of this group is on North America’s over-dependence on nuclear power, Hydro-Quebec’s large dams, and other unsustainable forms of energy. PLL advocates for the “Right to Dry” laws. www.laundrylist.org.

A few reasons to hang laundry:

1. Save money ($100 to $300 per year on electric bills for most households).

2. Conserve energy, the environment, and reduce global warming.

3. Clothes and sheets smell better.

4. Clothes last longer. Where do you think lint comes from?

5. It is outside physical activity and in the sun.

6. Clotheslines send a cultural message: “We’re rural and love it.”

7. The sun will naturally disinfect with ultraviolet rays.

8. Clothes dryer fires account for about 15,600 structure fires, 15 deaths, and 400 injuries annually. The yearly national fire loss for clothes dryer fires in structures is estimated at $99 million.

Hanging laundry is a symbolic gesture promoting a sustainable future, rather than the terminal one to which we seem to be headed.

http://www.newtimesslo.com/letters-to-the-editor/674/make-hanging-legal/



The simple answer is blowing in the wind
Paul Hanley, The StarPhoenix
Published: Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Sometimes the best solutions to problems are the simplest.

In 1995, student environmentalist Alexander Lee was concerned about the ecological effect of Vermont's two main electrical sources, Hydro-Quebec's dams and the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. He invited anti-nuclear activist Helen Caldicott to speak on the topic at his school. Her solution was a simple one: If every person did simple things like hang out their clothes to dry, we wouldn't need nuclear reactors.

Inspired by the idea, Lee started an organization called Project Laundry List (www.laundrylist.org) to educate people about how simple lifestyle modifications, including air-drying one's clothes, can reduce dependence on environmentally unfriendly and costly energy sources.

It may seem overly simple, but North America's tens of millions of electric clothes dryers use five to 10 per cent of residential electricity, second only to refrigerators, and the equivalent of 30 million tonnes of coal or the output of 15 nuclear reactors. If everyone went back to clothes drying, used cold water for laundry, and turned down their air conditioners, among other things, we could avoid a lot of high cost, capital intensive and environmentally damaging power production.

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/arts/story.html?id=5d832c27-4d4e-41f4-8b49-6e4190832c31

Alexander Lee of Project Laundry List will be on ABC News with Charles Gibson Friday night. Below is his website promoting the "right to dry". A few months ago, we bought an umbrella clothes dryer from from his site and it works great. There are many other sites you can buy clotheslines as well as many retail stores, but we liked what he was promoting(the right to dry) so we went with one of his clotheslines.

http://www.laundrylist.org/