Clothesline Drying Challenge Launched, But Are You Allowed to Participate?
According to a Seventh Generation survey, currently one third (27 percent) of people never line dry and only 22 percent currently wash all of their clothes in cold water. Photo: Flickr/martcatnoc
Seventh Generation launched its 30-day campaign challenging bloggers to wash their clothing in cold water and hang them to dry.
But don’t unplug your dryer just yet. For some 60 million residents living in private communities across the U.S., clothesline drying is actually illegal.
The issue heated up last year when The New York Times published an article questioning the constitutionality of banning the lines – should the aesthetic appeal of a community be up to an association or the homeowner?
Supporters of the ban say clotheslines bring down property value and are a marked sign of poverty. However, critics argue that soaring energy bills and the continued threat of global warming are grounds for preserving the homeowner’s right to construct a line.
In fact, clothes dryers use at least 6 percent of all household electricity consumption. To break that number down, per year that’s 3,400 watts, $179.35 (in the state of New York) and 80 gallons of gas, according to Energy Star.
But as Seventh Generation’s Brand Marketing Director Maureen Wolpert puts it, the line-drying challenge is “a simple thing to do that benefits generations.” As proof the idea is becoming a “movement,” the company cites a recent survey that showed showed 28 percent of people “line dry wet laundry items to save money.”
About 35 billion loads of laundry are washed each year in the U.S., with 90 percent of the energy used going toward heating the water, according to Project Laundry List, a nonprofit organization that is partnering with Seventh Generation to support the campaign.
“Simple changes can be made in any laundry room to help save money, energy and environmental resources,” says Alexandra Zissu, green lifestyle expert and co-author of the forthcoming Planet Home: The Guide to Consciously Cleaning and Greening the World You Care About Most (Random House, December 2010). “The Seventh Generation Laundry Challenge is an easy and fun way to inspire behavioral change.”
But while consumers around the U.S. may be down for a little behavioral shift, for some it’s simply not a reality…yet.
State governments have stepped in to make clothesline bans illegal. Utah, Florida, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine and Vermont have passed laws overriding the outdated laws of community associations. Maryland, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia have similar bills pending.
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Clothesline Ban Debate Heats Up as States Consider Legislation
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- Energy Star "Home Appliance Energy Use" GE http://www.ge.com/visualization/appliances_energyuse/index.html.
- Brian Merchant. (10/12/2009). "Fight to Legalize Clotheslines Sweeps the US" Treehugger http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/10/fight_to_legali.php?dcitc=daily_nl.
- Ian Urbina. (10/19/2009). "Debate Follows Bills to Remove Clotheslines Bans" The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/us/11clothesline.html?_r=2&ref=earth.
As of June 17th 2011 we have upgraded our comment system to use Facebook comments. The below comments are closed and are listed for historical purposes.
Rose Marie Pacheco
posted on July 7th, 2010 at 12:55 am
For an easier, faster and more efficient way of airdrying your laundry, please go to my website. Hangars are used instead of clothespins and you can hang 21 articles of clothing in the space of 39″. The Tibbe-Line can be used on an existing clothesline and can be made into a portable clothesline and can be set up just about any where. Also can be used to transport clothing in a vehicle, as a space saver in a closest and for people in wheelchairs, giving them access to their own clothes.
Janet
posted on July 7th, 2010 at 6:23 am
This is a great step in the right direction. I happen to live in one of those communities that doesn’t allow clotheslines so I would love to see that rule vanish! Any clothesline drying I would be able to do right now is in my basement and I really don’t think that would have the same impact!
Michelle
posted on July 7th, 2010 at 9:33 am
That’s crazy and such a shame. I live in one of the states where the updated law is pending and I always hang every bit of my laundry on a line. You can hang laundry and still be tasteful. My line is just a piece of string running from my house to my fence and it’s only up and visible when I’m using it. I always make sure to take my clothes off as soon as they’re dry. You can hang dry your clothes and still maintain a nice property.
Kai
posted on July 7th, 2010 at 9:54 am
Awesome. I live in MA and when I bought this house I made sure there was no homeowners association for the neighborhood. In TX I lived in a neighborhood with an HOA (Great Northwest, San Antonio) and a ban on clotheslines (and solar panels). HOAs are run by power hungry crazy people, and I hope that this is the beginning of a period of sanity in the HOA world. Or that people will think twice about signing on a house cited within a crazed HOA run by power hungry crazy people.
And yes, I hang out my clothes. In the winter, I hang them in my basement. I have a perfectly good dryer, but I choose to use it only during ‘laundry emergencies’. One thing to keep in mind re: outdoor drying: you don’t need bleach or harsh chemicals to whiten your clothes. The sun does it. I have diapers drying out there right now. And when I hang out my laundry, several amazing things happen. 1) I increase my sons exposure to nature (he’s learned to find & pick black raspberries & peas for snacks – not bad for 14 months); 2) i get fresh air, exercise & vitamin D (so does my son); 3) I’m observing my neighborhood. I wave to neighbors, chat with people walking by, and otherwise take note of what’s going on- by doing so, I’d like to think that I make my neighborhood less attractive to crime, because no one is going to risk breaking into a neighbors house or snatching a kid or stealing mail when I’m in & out of the house all day to hang up or bring in laundry.
It’s not just about the energy savings or the cost or the carbon footprint; it’s also about rebuilding our fractured car-dependent communities.
anne l
posted on July 7th, 2010 at 11:19 am
I have been useing cold water and using my solar clothes dryer for years. Back in the old days before electric dryers and lots of laundry and with cloth diapers it was a clothes line outside and a rack inside in the bad weather.
Carolyn
posted on July 7th, 2010 at 11:58 am
I line dry many of my clothes, but I do it surreptitiously, as I live in one of those communities where it is against the rules. Also, I do it to save money, but it’s because it saves the wear and tear on my clothing, not because I am worried about energy use.
Cindy
posted on July 8th, 2010 at 7:04 am
Kai– You have a soulmate here! I also hung out my sons’ diapers and the path to the clothesline is one of the first areas shoveled at our Massachusetts home. Days are commonly sunny in the winter, and the sun is virtually blinding reflected off of the snow. Clothes dry really well outside in the winter months and I’ll take the vitamin D even if it’s only weakly affecting what little skin is exposed. I have found that I never use my dryer any longer. Yaaay!
Herbert
posted on July 8th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
I have used a clothesline for several years.
Like my mother, I use both inside and outside lines.
An inside line can be a rod, such as a shower curtain rod or something similar placed where it will not cause too many problems. This can be helped by using a fan to blow around the clothes.
Of course they may not dry as fast as on the outdoor line, but it has worked for me and for my mother before me.
Love, Herbert
Judith
posted on July 10th, 2010 at 11:05 am
I recently purchased a spinning clothesline that is removeable when you are finished with drying your clothes. It is perfect. When we moved into our house 15 years ago, the “homeowners association” said no to hanging your clothes. It seems that the person or persons unknown are long gone and we can do pretty much as we please. Out of respect for my neighbors and neighborhood I decided that this clothesline was perfect for my needs. I love the smell of freshly dried in the outside air clothing and especially the sheets. I also use cold water to wash my clothes. I still use hot for the sheets and towels. Every little bit helps.
Liz
posted on July 14th, 2010 at 9:24 am
I also live in a community with an HOA that does not allow clothes lines. I have actually approached our Board to try to get this rule removed and/or revised; however, they will not budge. The fact that they think this is a sign of poverty and could bring property values down is ludicrous. Because we want to reduce our footprint on this earth as much as possible, we dry everything on a portable clothes dryer and are very discreet in doing so. As of yet, the HOA has not approached us because of the way we dry our clothes outside.
Barbara
posted on July 14th, 2010 at 9:28 am
I live in a house and use to hang my clothes out all the time. It was a way of life. I had to stop because of neighbors burning trash and or leaves and the birds. The birds never missed. Clotheslines should NOT be banned no matter where you live. My husband even ran a line in the house so I could hang most of it inside. It’s your business and your property. If you live in an apartment then use the square ones.
Claire
posted on July 14th, 2010 at 4:28 pm
I’d say it has been two years that I’ve been hanging all my laundry inside on a big folding wooden rack (and the rack was fair trade priced). Once or twice when I washed a lot of blankets I went to a laundromat. However, there is room on the rack for the clothes from one load. So I pace it so that I don’t have to do another load sooner than two days. Living alone, I have fewer clothes–I do about three loads every two weeks. Because there is a washing machine on the premises, I can do the one load at a time approach.
I have used cold water for at least four years, and probably more. And environmentally friendly detergent.
Although I prefer the smell of the outdoor drying and the bleaching of the sun, I find inside drying a workable alternative. The rack is set up in the guest room…just have to time it so that there isn’t a load drying when guests are expected.
Pat
posted on July 15th, 2010 at 5:56 am
I love using my clothes line. In 22 years we have replaced it for the 2nd time as the steel polls have given way to the wind [we live on top of a mountain] My sister used to hang her clothes out also. She now has moved to a community in Delaware & they can not have clothes lines. [I would move] I love to see clothes flapping in the breeze.
Linda
posted on July 15th, 2010 at 2:50 pm
Most of us have had to change with the times. During the depression, people had to hang clothes on the clothesline. And now that we are in a recession, we need to conserve as much energy as possible, not to mention the high electric bills we must pay. With job layoffs and folks losing their homes, it only makes sense to use energy wisely and conservatively. I live in SC where days are hot in summer so a clothesline is beneficial with all that glorious sun and rich with vitamins. Communities that ban hanging clothes out on a line need to rethink and change the rules accordingly.
Jey
posted on August 1st, 2010 at 10:01 pm
What?!?! That’s redicculous, out–dated, ignorant, and morally wrong to ban clothes lines. OMFG! How so? I think they’re charming, especially when there’s a load of laundry hanging out on the line, flapping in a warm summer breeze. The comment about poverty stricken people being the only one’s that use them, basically because they’re forced to, I find extremely offensive. If that’s the only way a person can get by, why would you look down on them? It isn’t as though they are lazy. I mean come on, they’re outside hanging laundry to dry. Anyway, I’m equally offended, because I’m not impoverished, and I hang my clothes outside. I have since I was about 10 years old, and I didn’t grow up impoverished either. It’s always been my choice. You get outside for a little bit. Have the pleasure of the sun shining down on you, and I also find it very relaxing, and calming hanging clothes on a clothes line. Almost spiritual in a sense. Just stepping out into the yard, roof top, balcony, etc., perhaps with a slight breeze, to perform a simple, everyday chore. Working with nature, instead of against her. I just feel a lot closer to the earth, and humbled a bit. There’s also the upside that was mentioned in the article, yes, you do save a little bit of money, and you aren’t contributing quite so much to pollution, as well. There’s potential to build community. If your other neighbors are out hanging there clothes, or just in their yards, you have a chance to say hi, chat, and connect a little bit. And my most favorite part, along with all the positive above, is that comforting, wonderful, fresh scent of a summer day are on your clothes. Your clothes don’t wear out as quickly. The dryer’s heat is murder on cotton, and the other fabrics. Lol, that’s just a little bit of my point of view, and can’t believe how pretentious people can behave, and, frankly, I was a little outraged. Furthermore, again with the comment about clothes lines, “bringing property values down”, it all depends on the person. I don’t think for a minute that is literally the case, honestly. I would be drawn to a neighborhood, or apartment that I saw people outside, their kids playing, and people going about there lives. When I drive through suburbia, or those neighborhoods where all the houses look very similar, and you can tell that there are a lot of rules, it always seems so unwelcoming to me. Not only that, but cold, lacking personality, charm, down right depressing. I always feel so bad for the people that live in houses, and neighborhoods like that.
Warren D'souza
posted on August 4th, 2010 at 11:38 pm
In India where I live, most of the people dry their clothes outside; even people who can afford a dryer still prefer to do it the old way. The problem is only during the 3 month of Monsoon where it is not possible to dry the clothes outside.
Linda A.
posted on August 10th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
I don’t even own an electric or gas clothes dryer! Since I live alone, I don’t have much in the way of laundry anyway. In the spring and summer, I dry my whites on the line, and my colored clothes I hang on hangers in the house. You can only hang whites to dry on the line because the sun bleaches them, but the same sun that bleaches whites also fades colors so that’s why I hang my colored clothes in the house. I can’t for the life of me understand why clothesline drying would be forbidden anywhere! That’s insane! I think there are few sights more aesthetically pleasing than seeing a load of freshly-washed laundry flapping in the breeze on a clothesline. I guess that goes back to my childhood. I grew up in the ’50s and ’60s when mechanical clothes dryers weren’t nearly as commonplace as they are today and pretty much everyone had a clothesline. Besides, clothes dried in a dryer don’t smell nearly as good as clothes dried outdoors on a clothesline do. I’ve said, and I continue to say, that when they come out with a dryer that makes clothes smell as good as they do when dried outside on the clothesline, then I’ll think about getting one; not before.