Another battle in the clothesline wars.....

Well, it's April, which means it's time for the New York Times to publish its annual article on the local politics of restricting the use of outdoor clotheslines. In "A Line in the Yard: The Battle over the Right to Dry," Elisabeth Rosenthal reports on conflicts between environmentally conscious line dryers and aesthetically inclined homeowners and public officials in Aurora, Ontario. I thought the manager for General Electric summed it up nicely: "When it comes to drying clothes, we find that our consumers are very busy and are looking for the fastest dry time. Of course, line drying is a more energy-efficient option, provided the weather is good, but it is not very convenient or time efficient." Ah, trade-offs!

Does the New York Times publish these articles each April? Oh, but of course, it is probably time for National Hanging Out Day again! See my previous post on last year's festivities.

In any event, hanging your clothes out definitely saves energy (hence some $) but can cost you time and inconvenience. Maybe if we put a real carbon tax in place, the "anti-clothesline" covenants in some of our communities will be removed, and people will simply have to lighten up--after all, is it really so bad to see someone's laundry hanging on the line? I can think of far worse things, but that's another post!