A friend forwarded this article to me and I had to share and comment. It seems that in other New England states, people are having to fight for their right to hang out their laundry. Clotheslines have been banned in some housing developments because hanging out laundry is thought to bring down property values. But of course so many people are thinking about how to conserve energy and go “green” that there’s a real conflict about this. The article commented that some of these folks have started hanging their laundry in the house, and I said, “Hey! That’s me!”

In January of this year I made a few changes, and one was to stop using my clothes dryer. Our house is so dry during the winter months that we run a humidifier, but at the same time I am running the dryer to take the moisture out of the clothes. That seemed crazy to me, so I bought a drying rack and for two months now I’ve been hanging the laundry in the living room. A bit inconvenient, I admit, but I think it makes a difference. Only a fridge uses more electricity than a dryer in a typical house, and I’ve found that we save at least $15-$25 per month for the dryer and humidifier. It only takes a few moments longer to hang the laundry, so I plan to continue even into the summer, putting the drying rack out on the deck (it’s in the back yard, so my neighbors won’t comment!).

Clotheslines are so common in rural areas here in Maine that I don’t really think about them, but I suppose in more crowded areas hanging laundry affects the view. Does anyone have an opinion about this? Should this be more an issue of property values or of global warming?