Le Dernier Cri

I’m feeling dryer-guilt.

I’m somewhat of an environmentalist. I say somewhat because my activist days of rallying and lobbying are, at least for now, pretty well over. Nowadays, I assert my environmentalism mainly through lifestyle: I drive a small fuel-efficient car and use public transportation for my commute; I recycle; I buy natural non-toxic cleaning products; I turn lights off when I’m not in the room; I keep my thermostat lower in the winter and higher in the summer; I run my dishwasher only when it’s full. Maybe it’s not much; I try to make conscious decisions to lessen my impact on the planet, but I know there is always more I could do. So I read with great interest recently about a campaign headed by a group called Project Laundry List to promote clothelines and ditch the dryer.

According to Alexander Lee, executive director of PLL, “[t]here is no such sense as an Energy Star dryer; these machines are inherently inefficient, using natural gas or electricity to heat air.” The Dept. of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy site says basically the same thing: the amount of energy used by a clothes dryers does not vary much between models, and therefore dryers do not display EnergyGuide labels, nor are they listed in the Energy Star database (*gasp*). Lee also notes that the dryer is the second most energy-consumptive appliance in the house. I am guessing that the number one energy hog is the refrigerator, because it’s always running. I can’t really shut off my refrigerator though—even if it is usually almost empty—but I had never thought about treating the dryer as optional. 

So now I’m thinking about it, and there are some pretty strong arguments for eliminating the dryer. On any given week, I do 3 or 4 loads of laundry, and for each load my dryer runs up to an hour, depending on the size of the load and the types of clothes I am drying (and whether I remembered to clean the lint trap before I started the cycle). Since I live in a small condo, my electric bill isn’t large to begin with so I don’t know if I would see a significant financial savings—at least from month to month—if I didn’t run the dryer, but being the environmentally-conscious hippie that I am, it’s the energy savings that intrigues me. I’m all about benefitting the environment.

Of course, there are obvious benefits to the clothes themselves. Air-dried clothes last longer (all the material that collects from drying will still be on the clothes, not stuck in the lint trap); they don’t shrink; they don’t have static cling (no more Bounce sheets!). I still have yet to test the theory that clothes dried in the sun smell better, but isn’t it true that detergents and fabric softeners are always trying to mimic that “fresh air-dried scent”? And sunlight naturally whitens and brightens clothes, so there is no need for toxic chlorine bleaches (although, obviously, I avoid those anyway).

And if that isn’t enough, there are even benefits from drying clothes indoors. I was disappointed—but not necessarily surprised—to read that many communities, particularly those managed by HOAs, have clothesline restrictions (believe it or not, there are some people who think that preventing “unsightly” clotheslines from cluttering the neighborhood is more important than conserving energy and reducing climate change). Others, like me, are space-challenged and have nowhere to put an outdoor clothesline. Drying clothes indoors may not give them that fresh air scent, but it does increase humidity levels in the house (something I think might also benefit my house plants). For someone like me who lives in a dry climate and is constantly battling the effects of dry air, especially in the winter, anything that generates humidity (and energy-free) is a welcome addition.

Hence the dryer-guilt. Do I have any good reasons left not to ditch my dryer?—or at least demote it? I’m going shopping for a drying rack…

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 2:42 pm and is filed under Current Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.