Saving $$$ while helping the environment

Can we do both? Sure we can. You see, I have a passion, and if it had come from anybody else, you might think it a bit odd. But as I am a nut, you probably won't think it a bit odd at all, since it's comming from me. I will share this with you today. It's about my solar powered clothes dryer.It has a great story that goes with it.

When I was a little boy growing up the old timey way back in the hills of Tennessee, my Granny used to hang clothes out on the clothesline that my Grandpa had built for her in the back yard. She did it to save $$$ on the "light bill". But to me, it was just fun. I remember running through those sheets and blankets like they were a fun house. Sometimes I pretended that they were the sails of my pirate ship. I guess that somehow I just associated clotheslines with the safety and warmpth of Granny's house.

So, now I still love clotheslines. I use mine quite a lot. So what if the towels get a little rough, or a bug gets on the clothes from time to time. We Tennessee folks are a hardy stock, and we don't mind a bit! And hey, it's worth it to save the kind of $$$ that we do.

A dryer uses a LOT of electricity. I find that my power bills usually drop about 20% just by using a clotheslines, and I have factored in seasonal things to make sure that I had it right. I have run experiments and tests very much on this, and I am sure of my data. One month in the 90s, we had a summer power bill that dropped from around 80$ to 21$ just because of the clothesline. It was the first month that we used our new clothesline, and it made a big difference.

So now, with the approach of spring, I look forward to the clothes line season. I love hanging clothes out on the line. I sometimes sit on the back porch and just watch the clothes sway in the gentle mountain breeze. It is calming and relaxing. I might even take the savings from the power bill and buy some stocks while they are cheap.

And remember, most of our electricity is derived from power plants that use fossil fuels. Using less electricity means ultimately less polution and greenhouse gasses in the air. If a lot more folks used a clothesline, then it would make a big difference.

Remember one of Newtons laws of physics ( I cant remember which one) that says that energy can be niether created nor destroyed? Well, whatever solar energy that is used (made to produce work) in the drying process is that much less energy that hit the surface of the earth to cause global warming. It might not be much, but it is something. Every little bit helps.

I figure to save several hundred dollars this year with the clothesline, as I usually do. I might take the money that I save and buy some good stocks in a oil company, just for the ironies sake. Hey, I told you that I was crazy!

I like the way you think, Richard. One thing you didn't mention about
the clotesline is the smell of the clothes that had dried in the sun.
With all the smelly stuff you can buy to put in the dryer, they still
haven't captured that aroma yet - and I doubt they ever will.

When I was a kid I don't think they even had dryers yet. We sure didn't
have one at any rate. I remember the mad dashes to help get the clothes
in because of rain.

Richard,
what you say is applied by many people.
My mother never owned a dryer. When I moved to Europe in 2001, everyone we saw still hung their clothes out to dry, so we decided not to purchase a dryer. And, we're used to it. Even in the winter, the clothes dry on those wash stands that sit in the furnace room.
People don't NEED dryers, but they want the convenience of them, and of course pay for that convenience.

I remember helping my grandmother dash for the clothesline in a sudden rain. Unfortunately, I've gone 'modern' and love my dryer, mainly because I don't have to keep watch. Now if I lived in the mountains among trees and creeks, I might enjoy watching the clothes sway in the breeze. But here in southern CA, all the sludge/smog/pollution, would probably cling to the clothes and I'd have to wash them again.

Years ago in Louisiana, we all used a dash of vinegar water in the final rinse, in our clothes, for our hair, for washing windows and many different things. I still do.

Hanging clothes on the line goes back to a time when more women were housewives who didn't work outside the home. We live in a different world today. But Brenda brought up something practical that could help. Vinegar and a few other natural products could save a lot of the money that we spend on cleansers, hair products, and detergents that are not only costly, but harmful to the environment as well. There are many websites that give "recipes" for inexpensive, safe ways to take care of many of the household tasks we do today.

Ann

Well, the world I live in women work--sometimes more than the men--but still wash clothes in a sink or bucket and hang them on the line.


I keep changing my mind on whether the third world is less or more ecodestructive than the first world.

Lots of places, for instance, those same indian peasant women wash their clothes in the creek using detergent.

Yep, once was enough

The clothes line is great--if your weather is suitable for it.

Our weather is not, therfore we drive a hybrid car. 55 mpg is pretty good we think.

Yeah, I love crawling into bed with the sheets smelling all clean and fresh. You just can't get that in a can. And it is a comfort to know that I probably saved anywhere from 3-5 bucks in the doing of it. In a way, it smells like $$$.

Somebody said something about the clothesline being womans work...but at Richard Stanbery's house...it's mans work. Thats right, I love doing the clothesline thing myself. It just seems to give me a Zen moment. Sometimes, if I am in a good mood, I might let others help. But mostly I hog all the fun for myself. I consider it a treat.
Alice...55 mpg in a hybrid? That's cool. What kind is it?

April 19th is National Hang Out Your Clothes Day!

Up until age 14, I used to wash clothes by hand and hang them on the line to dry ... for a family of seven.

After I was married, we lived in South Texas and I was able to dry clothes on the line almost year round.


Now that I spend most of my time on the road ... hanging clothes has become a bit inconvenient ... though I do hang a few things on hangers to dry ... but that's because they don't do well in dryers.

April 19, the day that the American Revolution started in 1775. What better way to remember it than to hang out some clothes on a line!

Richard,

It is a Prius

I gave up hanging clothes outside with child number four. I love having a dryer. With six children I needed all the time saving equipment I could find.

My mother loved her dryer as well, but didn't get one until her two children were grown.

I remember the smell of those clothes dried outside. A very nice memory.

When my children were all home each month we would have one who was keeper of the energy. That person would be in charge of keeping lights turned out, etc., and any money saved that month they received. Well, this didn't go on for years, but I think it did make them more conscious of saving energy.

Carol

Carol

Abe F. March wrote:

Richard,
what you say is applied by many people.
My mother never owned a dryer. When I moved to Europe in 2001, everyone we saw still hung their clothes out to dry, so we decided not to purchase a dryer. And, we're used to it. Even in the winter, the clothes dry on those wash stands that sit in the furnace room.
People don't NEED dryers, but they want the convenience of them, and of course pay for that convenience.

My husband and I are used to packing very little when we travel. When we went to Ireland for 10 days, between the two of us we had two checked suitcases and one small carry-on. We washed clothes while we were there ... and used one of those fold-out clothes stand thingies. Worked for us.

I used to put my sheets on a line outside, but always preferred the dryer for towels. They came out so much more soft and fluffy.

Ann (As she continues happily reading and responding to the mornings messages, drinking her coffee and sprinkling around her "lofty" comments about "both/and" over "either/or")

I'm with you 100%. Also, when you turn off your modern appliances, they are still on. If you plug them into a surge protector, turn that off and you will be saving money and energy as modern appliances don't turn off, but go on "stand by." You can save money and energy by turning off your TV, computer, printer, DVD player, stereo, and anything else that goes on "stand by" when it is "off."

Flash,
you are right. There was a study done, I don't remember the statistics, but I do remember the savings and safety benefits by unplugging or turning off all the stand-by features. If you had a TV blown out by lightning as I have, one becomes more aware of the potential problems that can be avoided. It is an automatic thing with me now. If I am going away for more than a day, I unplug everything except the refrigerator and freezer.

My son unplugged the freezer once when he plugged in the vacuum and forgot to re-plug in the freezer.

That freezer was never used again.

Carol

Carol,

Was this in your house?

More details please?

It was in a workshop. One day a strange horrible smell like 500 mice had died in the walls began to permeate the house. Again, my airline pilot husband was in another country. The freezer had my son-in-law's venison in it. We took out the meat and quadruple bagged it for the garbage.

My son-in-law said he thought he could get the freezer back to good condition. About two weeks later we saw it outside his garage door where someone was going to pick it up to take to the dump.

My son felt terrible, but he still had to do the vacuuming.

Carol

When Bill and I bought our first house, we made the mistake of accepting the refrigerator as part of the deal. Unfortunately, after we moved in and plugged the thing back in, it started developing this sour smell. We never did figure out why. It seemed fine before we moved in. The smell didn't start until we plugged it in after it had been off for several weeks. Nothing we tried got that smell out. We not only had to pay for a new refrigerator, we had to pay to have the smelly one hauled off.

Ann