Valerie Weaver-Zercher has a thoughtful essay in today's Chicago Tribune http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-perspec-1003-dryer-20101003,0,3250324.story about doing the laundry--without a dryer.
I think she rightly points out that our standards--our expectations, our aesthetics--have to change. We have to learn to accept--embrace?--rough and wrinkled clothing, though I'd add that hygiene is also involved. If you wash in cold water and then air dry, then there is no hot water and no hot air drying to really take on those dirty smelly gym clothes your kids bring home.
A few dimensions deserve more discussion, though:
First, where she lives and does laundry. The by-line indicates she lives in Pennsylvania--which, I can attest from first hand experience, is a great place to hang out clothes many months of the year. But what if she lived in Houston? I have visited that city a handful of times, and wow, is that place humid. It seems to me that clothes would never dry whether you hung them inside or out--unless you used an indoor rack AND TURNED ON THE AIR CONDITIONING--probably not the right idea here. You'd need something to get the humidity out of the air before line drying (as a rule) makes sense. So, first caveat--can't do this everywhere as easily as Pennsylvania. [BTW, my mom still hangs her clothes out in PA!]
Second, wealth. By that I mean, resources (house, land, space, square footage...) and control over how the author spends her day (she could check email in the morning, or she could do laundry and spend her scarce time washing, hanging, and then folding clothes). She is in a great position, with a lot of discretion, and she can make choices. Yes, we all make choices. But what about a family of 3 or 4 living in a 750 square foot apartment in a major city? Overall, it seems likely that the carbon footprint for that family is smaller than that of many who live in single family or simply less dense housing, so it's hard to argue that they should also hang their socks up in their tiny living room. That family has already made choices that seem pretty darn climate-friendly, so I think it's unreasonable to ask them to do more by foregoing use of their dryer.
Maybe one response to the latter concern is to repeat the author's suggestion that we change our expectations about what is good, lovely, tasty, beautiful, and so on. Maybe we need to be content with less--smaller houses and apartments, smaller cars, fewer trips to see friends or family who live far away.
Anyway, it's good to see this issue getting the discussion it deserves.
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2 comments:
I dry socks and towels in the dryer, but hang other things. Three observations:
1. Chicago humidity (and no central air) does not prevent the clothes from drying.
2. I hang them on laundry racks right next to the dryer, so not getting all over the place.
3. When I do put the wash in the dryer, someone forgets to take them out in time and they get all crumply. On the racks, they come out nicer (except the socks and towels, which is why I dryer those items) even if children and husband don't get around to taking and folding their clothes for a few days.
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