This article speaks to my heart. Really and truly. Do any of you remember this drama? (And the ensuing passive aggressiveness that transpired). For those of you who don’t and are too lazy to click on the gazillion links, I had a bit of a run-in with the apartment manager here about whether or not I could legally hang my laundry out to dry. (I won – I scoured the lease and discredited their argument. They probably rewrote the lease that same day.)

Just in case you haven’t looked at my header lately, I do love my clothesline. And I was a bit perturbed when they told me it was “unsightly.”

But what really lit my fire was that someone could dare tell me it was against the rules to save money. So I am ecstatic that there is now a clothesline activist group introducing legislature to lift clothesline bans!

Also, isn’t it ironic, when you think about it, that a country so invested in reducing global warming and the consumption of fossil fuels bans such an easy way to do such? From the article:

At last count, in 2005, there were 88 million dryers in the US, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. Annually, these dryers consume 1,079 kilowatt hours of energy per household, creating 2,224 pounds of carbon-dioxide emissions.

Besides the global-warming and cost-saving aspects of clotheslines, proponents say hanging out clothes requires exercise and time outside – elements that are missing from many Americans’ lives. “So much of our lives have become automated,” Mr. Wentzell says. Plus, using a clothesline makes “your clothes last longer and smell better.”

Are you a fellow clothes-linian? Visit Project Laundry List for some more information on how to change the world, one gently-flapping-sheet-in-the-breeze at a time. I need my state to hear about this laundry revolution; you can bet I’ll be contacting my legislator!

_______

Hat-tip to Joanna for the wonderful article!