Conserve: Electricty in the Laundry Room

Now that you aren't using your dryer anymore and are getting the maximum usage of your drying line (you are, aren't you?) in the backyard before you move the operation indoors for the winter, I think it's high time to talk about how you can save energy in your washing machine.

If you go to Google and type in "wash in cold" the first page that comes up is one from Carbon Conscious Consumer and I can tell you that every page after that pretty much will tell you the same thing (and then tell you that they got it from this page). It pretty much says that heating water uses a ton of energy nationwide and that you really don't need to wash in hot water to get your clothes clean.

And I can attest to that. I have been washing my clothes in the cold/cold cycle for so long that I can't even remember when I started. I do know that the reason I started was that I found out that washing in cold means that when you wash that new red shirt in a load of whites (yes, I am speaking from experience here), everything comes out the same color it was when it went in.

If you're worried about the nasties in your clothes stop and think about it. How dirty do you really get during the day? If you aren't a toddler, I bet the answer is not very. I throw a little bit of color safe bleach with every load anyway to make sure that my clothes are genuinely clean.

If you need to wash something in hot water there are still a few things that you can do to cut down on your energy consumption. Use the warm option instead of hot and be sure to use cold in the rinse cycle (it's the warm/cold setting on your washer).

And of course, using an Energy Star washer will save you even more.

Online Shopping vs. The Mall

I know that I provide you with a lot of links that take you to websites where you can purchase things to help you green up your life ... but have you ever wondered weather or not online shopping is better or worse for the environment? It's something that I've been thinking about lately. Sure, I could buy all of my 7th Generation products from Amazon but I know that I can also get them at some grocery stores. Is it worth purchasing everything online? I decided that I wanted to find out.

There is no getting around the fact that in order to get anything you need you'll probably have to burn some gas to get it. Unless you have a big basket on your bike and live fairly close to the store and you have the leg power to get you there and back (if you do, you are my hero). But if you consider the distances and the number of trips it takes for you to get the item that you're looking for, you will probably find that online shopping is better suited for some products while physically going to the store is better for others.

The Grocery Store
A typical trip to the grocery store for me has two legs: I drive there and then I drive home. As long as I know that you will find everything on my list in one store, I figure it can't hurt to drive there. But you can get your groceries delivered to your door if you would rather. You can read an article about it here and you might want to look at companies like Netgrocer and Dinewise if your local grocer doesn't have their shopping site online yet. Personally, I like to get out of my house every now and then and I think grocery shopping is something that you don't have to take online if you don't want to.

If you want to be a little greener about it (and have more fun at the same time), ask your neighbor if they want to go along with you. You'll save gas when you carpool and it will be great bonding time for the two, or maybe three, or you. If you're scared to ask your neighbor to go with you because you've never talked to them before, you can start the conversation by making them a batch of cookies just to be nice.

The Mall
This was quite interesting to read about online when I was doing my research for this article. There are several things that malls are doing these days to green up the way they run business. This includes providing recycling options for retailers when they are disposing of their cardboard stock boxes to putting a garden on the roof! However, this doesn't make up for the fact that these sprawling malls take up a ton of land space, space that probably was a farm at one time, and covers it with tons of asphalt. This alters the landscape and can cause all sorts of drainage problems when rain water can't be absorbed into the ground like normal. You can read about all the different problems that can come from paving large areas in this article from Florida.

But again, you can make a mall trip only have two legs: one to get there and one to get back. And usually when I go to the mall I go with another person so I carpool too. But depending on where you live, your mall could be very far away (it takes me 20-30 minutes to get to mine) and the traffic could be terrible on the drive over. My mall is in the middle of a commercial area with tons of apartments and neighborhoods around it which means that there is always traffic and there are tons of stoplights.

Shopping Online
There are many benefits to taking your recreational shopping habits online rather than to the mall.

1. You save gas, time and energy.
• You save money on gas because you don't have to drive to get to your computer, hopefully.
  
• You save time because you don't have to drive anywhere and you can find websites with the wares you want in 5 minutes with a Google search.
• You save energy in two forms: it costs less and does less harm to the earth when you run an internet search than it does for you to drive to the mall and back home. Also, you don't have to wear yourself out walking around the mall to go to every store that you need to.
  
2. You can shop and compare from multiple stores at once, in the same browser.
• The next time you're at the mall and you see a pair of pants you like but you want to compare them to the pants that they have in the store down the hall, you have no way of doing that without getting tackled by a security guard in the end.
• Using the internet you can read reveiws and compare your pants to any other pants your little heart may desire without the fear of getting any shoplifting charges added to your rap sheet.
  
3. You can find exactly what you want instead of settling for something close.
• There are lots of times when I go shopping I have a picture of something in my mind but I can't find it anywhere and I end up settling for something that's close but may be something that I don't necessarily want.
• You may have trouble finding all the eco-friendly products that you need at a store near you. Rather than drive all around town, you can check around online and find exactly what you want.

I found a couple articles that are worth reading about the benefits of shopping online, for you and the environment. This EcoIQ article sums it up very well and while this New York Times article may not be about online shopping, it talks about how shopping malls affect our environment. Quite interesting.

The bottom line is, if you can get everything in one trip at the same store without spending a bundle to get there, then shopping in the real world is the way to go. If you know that what you want is going to be hard to find then I think that online shopping is the way to go. Use your head, be smart, and shop on my greenie friends.

Line Drying - Back in Style

Line drying your clothes isn't just for your grandmother anymore. There is a movement afoot in the green community to get back into the habit of line drying your clothing for a few reasons.

1. It will save you money.
• No joke! Your dryer, refrigerator and washer are the biggest electricity hogs in your house.
• The sun acts as a bleaching agent and it's antibacterial which means that you don't have to buy any more bleach.
  
2. It's relaxing.
• Just pretend that you're playing house in the 1950's. Dig out that apron you have with the ruffles and saunter into your back yard to get to work - I like to do it at least. The trick is to reward your hard work with a martini when you get back in the house.
  
• Lots of blogs I've read on the subject mention that it's just nice to spend some time outside and getting their chores done all at the same time, and I agree.
  
3. Your clothes will last longer.
• The lint that you pull off the screen in your dryer comes from your clothes, but did you know that it's because they're being destroyed? I never put 2 and 2 together until a few months ago.
• The less time your clothes spend in the dryer the more fibers stay in your clothes which will make it much easier to make it through the 365 no new duds challenge with your pants in one piece.
  
4. Your clothes will smell "sunshine fresh".
• Another common 'thread' (haha) in blogs and articles about line drying is just how good your clothes will smell when you bring them down off the line.
• You can stop paying more for the smelly detergents because you are now getting the smell for free.

Don't believe me? Check out this Mom Advice article on the subject as well as Thrifty Jinxy's thoughts on the matter (which also happens to be an Ideal Bite tip!). They will pretty much tell you the same thing. The Mom Advice article also give you some great ideas on how to reduce the amount of wrinkles in your clothes as they dry on the line.

Don't let your line drying days come to an end when it starts to get cold outside! You can just as easily dry your launder on a few folding racks, which is what I use right now anyway. I find that my clothes get dry just as fast as they do when they are in the dryer and I haven't had any trouble with stiff clothes at all, something that can happen when you dry outside.

Now that I know you're all ready to get out there and line dry your clothes you will need some supplies to get you started. Here's where to get the goods:

1. A clothes line
• I found this outdoor clothes line setup that was something I thought I might like ... if I had a backyard.
• You might also want to consider a retractable clothes line if you don't want a giant thing standing in your back yard all the time.
  
2. A drying rack
• Thanks to Ideal Bite, here is a site that is dedicated to sustainable production of wooden drying racks and boy do they have a bunch of styles. I was really impressed.
3. Clothes pins
• You can't get the clothes to stay on the line without these little guys! You can find them several places around town probably.
• Here are some wooden clothes pins and here are some plastic clothes pins. I personally prefer the wooden ones.
  
4. Clothespin bag
• Here is a basic clothes pin bag.
  
• But you can also make your own with things that you already have in your house. Check out these awesome instructions I found for this style and these other equally awesome instructions to make another style.
  
5. A ruffled apron and martini shaker
• This apron will blow your neighbors away.
• These aprons have a very vintage look to them if you really want to look authentic.
• I found a site called Martini Art that should become your one stop shop for any martini supplies you might ever want or need. They even have drink recipes!

And there you have it. Every question you may have had about line drying your clothes answered and several resources at your finger tips. So what are you waiting for? I'll see you in the back yard!