I’m going to try to post ONE green deed a week. Does this mean I’m only doing one green thing? Nosiree but it means I’m only taking the time to highlite one. Also, it’ll hopefully be a new one each week that will add to what I’m already doing. We can’t ignore the fact that the population will be hitting (or has hit) 7 billion this month (Oct. 2011.) Guess what it was when I was born? 3 billion. Holy schmoly! I don’t know how the planet can support this.
Here’s one small thing I’m doing today: line drying my cloth diapers which saves a good deal of electricity.
Note: I was discussing clothes lines with my friend who is from Sweden. She said her mom always line-dried all their clothes in the basement. ALL YEAR. I mean even in the winter time. Line drying diapers does not require sun or heat. You can dry them in your garage or even in your house/apt. I leave them indoors sometimes at night and they are almost dry by morning.
On really hot days I go crazy and put all the laundry out in the backyard but since I don’t have a space to line dry them indoors I resort to the dryer. I still hang bras/panties & jeans on the rack indoors though.
Some people don’t like the crunchy feeling of line-dried towels. I get that but some items are fine! Line drying will actually extend the life of your underwear/bras & jeans. If you spend a lot on jeans or love a particular pair of jeans, they will hold up much better if you spare them the dryer!
What is your Weekly Green? I look forward to hearing from you below…
5 comments on Weekly Green::Line Drying Diapers
Leave a reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Christina
October 11, 2011 at 11:32 am (4774 days ago)By the way: I got that wooden drying rack at the hardware store but I’ve seen them at Rite Aid, IKEA & Target. Mine is NOT sturdy so it’s been duct taped & zip-tied to within an inch of its life! Worth investing in a sturdy one.
Josh
October 11, 2011 at 12:31 pm (4774 days ago)Thanks for the post. I have toyed with the idea of line-drying, but haven’t made the jump just yet. I suspect I will soon once I get a little more space.
My green task was to bring in a full set of my home flatware (knife,fork & spoon) and plate/bowl and use it at the office. I’ve been brown-bagging it more lately, but if I do get take-out I don’t use plastic silverware anymore.
teresa vigil
October 11, 2011 at 1:11 pm (4774 days ago)So i have been stalking your blog but now you now for you asked me to repeat this- lol.
If you line dry your clothes all the time, yep, nightmare but this is how i do it. Put your clothes on the line, dry them, then put them into the dryer 3 min to remove hard wrinkles that have formed from line drying. I had to save money and this was one way that was smart and eco friendly. The other way i tried to save money was making my own bread. 5 dollars a loaf with a family can add up, so making your own loaf a week saves you close to 30 a month or depending on how much bread your family consumes. So first off buy the book bread bakers apprentice.
2) learn to make the starter ( bread) first. Also learn that each area the weather makes a huge difference. my starter is made at night, then in the morning its ready. I live by the beach and its often not that warm so the starter takes longer to make.
3) make it all the time, get in the habit,
4) cheapest place to buy yeast smart and final- buy in bulk.
5) buy bread flour from cosco and all pourpose flour, best place and price.
6) mix it up i add rye flour and other stuff, but this will add to the price. A loaf of bread cost me about 30 cents to make and taste better than the stuff at the store.
ok Christina don’t kill me for highjacking your thread.
Christina
October 11, 2011 at 6:15 pm (4774 days ago)Josh: great idea re: utensils!! Can do cloth napkins eventually? I love this idea!
Teresa: THANKS!! That’s a perfect comment. I used to make bread but by HAND and it is very tiring/ time-consuming w/out a breadmaker. Maybe I’ll get one for the next bday…
Josh
October 12, 2011 at 10:26 am (4773 days ago)Xtina: I already do cloth napkins at home and, honestly, hadn’t thought of extending that to the office b/c of the lack of washing facility. I clean all my utensils/plates/cups/etc. in the cafeteria sink but never thought of napkins! From now on, I will bring one in and tote the dirty one home weekly on a weekly basis so it can go in my regular wash.
Also, since Christmas is coming up I might mention that I like to give green-friendly gifts to co-workers in the same vain of eliminating “disposable” anything from work meals. I see a lot of folks use paper/styrofoam cups in our cafeteria, so I gave all my team members nice travel mugs (that look like the ubiquitous greek key patterned paper cup) last year and they really seemed to like it. It’s a not-so-douchy way to get people on board. It’s the little things…