tgrtranslation

I know someone who got into big trouble once in a city laundromat because he was sitting washing not just a load of laundry, but also the clothing he had happened to be wearing at the time. While going clothes-less may be the most sustainable option, a method of saving money and reducing emissions less likely to earn you a misdemeanor charge is to forgo the dryer and hang as much of your wash on a clothesline or drying rack as possible. We do this, and it keeps the apartment from getting too hot during summer, lowers the electric bill by $100.00 or more a year, and saves about 1.5 to 2 pounds of CO2 for each hour the dryer would have run. This may seem too time consuming for those washing for a household, but even doing drying just half “atmospherically” and half using a conventional dryer over the course of a year will cut your carbon footprint by about 723 lbs of CO2 per year. If you are not sure your carbon footprint justifies the investment of time, check it using the calculator provided by the University of California here: https://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/calculator. My individual footprint is about 9.9 tons of CO2 a year. At that rate, every small savings is necessary. Lowe’s carries a 3-tier collapsible drying rack costing $25.00, or search a local secondhand store if you prefer. Taking the time to air dry may allow us to forestall the day (for some, already upon us) when it’s so hot that no one wants to put on clothes at all! What’s your carbon footprint?