Take the Green Laundry Challenge—and you could win green laundry goodies
by Grist.
With summer upon us, it’s the perfect time to reform your
laundry habits. Will you take the Green Laundry Challenge?
1. First order of
business: Skip the dryer and let your clothes blow in the breeze (or at least just hang loose).
Dryers are big household energy suckers—second only to
refrigerators. A dryer will cost about
$85 to operate annually; over its expected lifetime of 18 years, that
adds up to $1,530. Get more info—and more reasons to line-dry—from Project
Laundry List.
You don’t have to have a yard or a balcony to get in on the
game. You can dry items indoors on a folding
rack, like this or this. Grist advice guru Umbra Fisk offers more info on indoor
racks. Or just string your laundry up outside your window, à la the photo above.
2. Wash in cold water. It gets your laundry plenty clean, we
promise.
Heating water to wash clothes accounts for 90 percent of the
energy that a washing machine uses. Washing your laundry for a year on hot or
warm in a top-loading electric washer will result on average in 2,407
pounds of CO2 pollution—equivalent to a roundtrip, cross-country
plane trip.
3. Use a nontoxic, biodegradable detergent.
Conventional laundry detergents contain all kinds of nasties
like phosphates, surfactants, and bleach, which end up in waterways when they
are drained from washing machines; these chemicals create algal blooms, expose
wildlife to endocrine disruptors, and release corrosive chemicals,
respectively. Look for biodegradable laundry detergents without phosphates or surfactants (NPEs). Instead, they will be
made with plant oils and other natural ingredients that can biodegrade. Plus, eco-friendly
detergents are easier on the skin and better for people who are sensitive to
chemicals.
Also check out Umbra’s advice on laundry detergents—including DIY
laundry detergent—and Grist’s review of six green detergents.
So … are you game? Try
out the green laundry thing, then report back and tell us how it goes—you can post a comment below. Or if you
already line-dry and greenify your laundry, share thoughts and tips right now.
After June 23, we’ll choose one lucky commenter to win a green laundry
kit containing:
A portable,
collapsible laundry line—can be used indoors or
outdoors
A collapsible jute laundry basket
Clothes pins
A jug of Seventh
Generation Natural 2x Concentrated Laundry Liquid
The kit—“retail
value: $80”— is provided
courtesy of Seventh
Generation. Full
disclosure: The company sent Grist one of these kits too. The collapsible laundry line is pretty neat.
Related Links:
Ask Umbra on the word “green,” DIY laundry detergent, and computer batteries
Ask Umbra’s pearls of wisdom on spring cleaning
Ask Umbra on toilet paper, dryer balls, and Twitter
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