“If we all did things like hang out our clothes, we could shut down the nuclear industry.” – Helen Caldicott
Renewable energy is all the rage these days and with good reason. We all know the inconvenient truth about burning fossil fuels: we must wean ourselves and our society off of them if we are to have any shot at surviving the future. A future with 400ppm CO2 and steadily rising temperatures.
I looked into getting solar panels on my roof, but I’ve got too many trees. At this point in the game, I prefer to have my trees giving the Rubin Rodeo some shade (we have no AC) and allow them to continue with their most important work: converting CO2 into oxygen.
I did discover one way to utilize both wind and solar to cut down on my electric bill. No pricey solar panels or wind turbines needed. Just a simple rack is all that is needed. Crazy as it may sound, this technology is illegal in some municipalities. I didn’t dare check with my town, I just decided to do it anyway.
I visited my friend Sue in Valencia, Spain last fall. She was drying her clothes right in her front yard, she had a cool rack that made it super easy to dry all of her laundry. As I traveled by train through the rest of Spain, I noticed laundry lines everywhere. It made me realize how foolish we are to use a clothes dryer on a sunny or breezy day.
As soon as I got home, I went and bought a fold up rack like my friend Sue’s along with a pack of wooden clothes pins.
My high tech clothes drying rack.
YES, it takes a bit more time to go outside and fasten my wet laundry onto the rack and bring it back in when its dry. There is a bit of zen involved. There is something very soothing about mindfully arranging your clothes with clothespins. Plus I’m outside on a nice day. Nothing wrong with that! Besides, my clothes smell fantastic now. They will last longer by not being tossed around in the dryer. I’ll save money as my electric bill will definitely notice that the dryer isn’t running as much as it was.
I realize that I’m not going to save the world by drying my clothes outside. We’ve all got to start somewhere. If I can inspire you to dry outside in the sun and you can tell others, a ripple starts to roll.
Go ahead. Give it a try. It’s easier than you think!
