In the depths of this hideous New England winter, I find myself longing for warmer days – the sweet smells of summer, the taste of a fresh picked tomato, and the flapping of shirts on the clothesline. Strike that. I know I should love my clothesline, it is eco-cool, saves money, and reduces energy consumption, but my clothesline and I have a strained relationship. I can’t blame the clothesline; I think my own personal hang-ups (so to say) are at fault.
When my husband first installed our clothesline, he went on and on about energy savings and reduced electricity bills. Apparently he was right, since we do see a significant drop in our payments to the energy lords during the six drying months we have here in the arctic tundra. But, I don’t think my significant other factored in my energy and costs. My theoretical salary, as a stay-at-home mother, of $90,000/year without overtime (thanks Salary.com!) averages out to about $19.23 per hour. Given it takes me about a half hour to lug the soaking laundry from the basement to the porch, hang dozens of miniature pieces of clothing courtesy of our children, then remove the items once dry – and repeat as necessary – I am not convinced we save any money. We will see when my paycheck arrives one day.
Beyond the obvious cost and energy savings, a clothesline brings certain nostalgia, a sense of the return to simpler times without the expensive gadgets with breaking parts. However, this isn’t the case. One would think a piece of rope, a couple of trees, and two pulleys would leave little room for technical difficulties. Not true. This past December we had a significant ice storm, causing eight days of power outage at our homestead, and the demise of many trees, including one holding up said clothesline. Oh, and a broken pulley. So come this spring we will need to replace our clothesline entirely (not to mention the tree). On the other hand, our fifteen year old dryer has had no technical difficulties since it was purchased.
Despite my clothesline reservations upon its installation, the science teacher in me thought it would be a great learning experience for our children. Not only is it a visual icon of environmental conservation (not to mention one of the simple machines), but I thought it would inspire the offspring to partake in some higher order mental exercises. So imagine my surprise when my five year-old responded to my question about how long it would take the load of laundry to dry taking into consideration the variables of sun exposure and wind speed and direction, by walking over to the sandbox and ignoring me.
Finally, I must consider my husband’s relationship with the clothesline. He is so enthralled by his handiwork and our energy cost savings, that he takes it upon himself to do the majority our laundry during those splendid six warm months. Wait, never mind – for this reason alone, I really do love my clothesline.
By Lori Stewart: Green Gigs – Virtual Jobs with a Green Twist
March 6th, 2009 at 12:10 am
What a great post!
My family and I have really bad allergies so I don’t use an outdoor clothes line. I do have an indoor one in my laundry room where I hang all the big items (shirts, pants, jackets, etc) but I can’t give up my dryer for the small things like socks and undies. I need those to be dryer soft. ;-0
March 6th, 2009 at 2:20 am
Great post, Lori!
I, too, have a conflict over the clothesline. I want to be greener. I definitely want to save energy (imagine what electric bills are like in Texas in the summer!). However, I find that my clothes, which are dried on the line often need to be ironed and yes, my time (and its worth) definitely needs to get factored into the equation. If I only have two days (the weekend) to catch up on the chores, clean house, grocery shop, etc., then time becomes even more important and precious.
Of course, my ideas would be that we need to allow more telecommuting, more flex-time, and drop the work week to 32 hours per week (it is already being done at the Center for the New American Dream).
March 6th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
I must admit, there’s something so serene and peaceful about hanging clothes on the line and watching them sway this way and that from a gentle breeze…
Great article! (I gave it a Stumble.)
*smiles*
Michele
March 6th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Thank you for the kind words (and Stumble!).
March 6th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
this is a very good post about the reality of transition.
here is an interesting design for a clothesline:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/07/hang_it_out_to.php
March 6th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Just the other day I was wishing I had a clothesline… and that spring would arrive quickly! Thank you for leting me live vicariously through you and your clothesline!
March 7th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
You’re most welcome!
Michele
March 30th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Lovely post. It was travel in Kenya and Tanzania that really gave me the final nudge away from the clothes dryer. I drop line-dried clothes in the dryer for two minutes if they need softening/de-wrinkling. It’s enough! I wrote about laundry in Africa, and our subterranean clothesline on my blog, The Tangled Nest:
http://thetanglednest.com/2009/03/a-subterranean-clothesline-thinking-outside-of-the-dryer/
July 1st, 2009 at 7:41 am
Great post. I use a lightweight, small circular drying rack that has several clips to hang multiple small items like undergarments and socks. I hang it in my laundry room so it doesn’t take up very much space at all. I bought it at a Japanese supermarket (I just learned that most people in Japan hang their clothes to dry) but not sure where else you can buy it. Otherwise I use a wooden drying rack indoors for larger items because I don’t have space for a clothesline outside. If I don’t use some sort of fabric softener my clothes dry really stiff, so I’ve been using a 3-in-1 detergent, fabric softener, and stain remover to save time. It’s been a life saver in terms of convenience, and it is green too! I bought it at http://www.grabgreenhome.com.