On Nostalgia and Living Greener

[jenn_unplugged]

I get nostalgic in the fall; I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the approaching holidays that remind me of my childhood, or maybe it's the cooler weather that makes me yearn for comfort foods, which in turn reminds me of times gone by. But every fall, I find myself wanting to do things differently, to return to the simple traditions I knew as a child: making jam, canning vegetables, baking, knitting, sewing.

Last night we had fried chicken and collard greens for dinner. How southern is that? :-D I wasn't happy with how my greens turned out, and I am going to work on that. I have some ideas for replicating the unbelievably yummy collards at Stubbs BBQ. Anyway, I also made some cornbread to go with those dishes. I don't have the right sized cast iron killet, but I do have a bunch of mini iron skillets. And so I present: mini-corn pones. :-D





They were yummy too.

Another thing I've been thinking about in the last six months or so is how to cut back on my energy use. It seems like a no-brainer for someone like me, but I'd gotten lazy. I'd stopped thinking about switching off lights or turning up the thermostat. We've been much better about those things since Carter was born.

But one we hadn't thought much about was laundry. We have an HE washer and dryer, and the dryer is natural gas-powered, so we haven't thought much about energy or water use with laundry. We cloth diaper, though, and so that means a few more loads of laundry every week than we would do otherwise. I feel fine about the water use -- what we really need to do is change out our toilets to double-flush ones. But those diapers take a looong time to dry, at least two cycles on high. And geez, that's crazy!

So a couple of weeks ago, I decided to start line drying my diapers. I put some of the natural fiber ones in the dryer for a short cycle to soften them up (they are pretty crunchy otherwise), and then hang them outside, but the fleece pockets and microfiber inserts go straight on the drying rack. Wipes (which I had stupidly been drying and then re-wetting to go back in the warmer!) get folded, wet a little more, and put in the warmer again.

This has benefits other than saving energy, I've found. Sunlight is an amazing disinfectant and bleach. Stains just disappear, like magic. My diapers have smelled a lot cleaner, to my surprise. And there's just something cool about hanging them out to dry.



How did we get so far away from this very green way of drying clothes? Sure, it's great to have a dryer when it's cold and rainy out, or if you live in an apartment or something. But I remember from my time in Europe that people generally didn't use dryers. They wold hang wet clothes to dry on a rack in the bathtub, or on lines on their apartment balconies. Some of my favorite pictures I've taken in Europe are of colorful clothes hanging on the line across narrow streets. When I was in Sweden in December 1993, I stayed with families in apartment buildings who used the communal washing machines in the building's basement -- and then hung their clothes on the communal lines there as well.

When I was a child, I remember everyone had clotheslines, and in the summer they were always full of clothes, sheets, diapers, and towels. People had electric dryers, but only used them when it wasn't sunny out. I have incredibly fond memories of watching my grandmother hang clothes on the line, of playing under them with my sister (we'd pretend the area between hanging sheets was a house), and of the sound of the clothes flapping in the summer breeze. One of my mom's favorite pictures is of my sister standing by the clothesline at the age of 3 or 4, sucking her thumb and holding onto her blankie, which had been wrestled away and washed and was drying on the line. Pictures of clothes drying on the line are almost iconic of summer, and of laundry. The rug in my laundry room has a clothesline depicted on it, in fact.

So what happened? Why don't Americans have clotheslines any more? (Or maybe they do, just not anywhere I've lived.) Since I was 18, I've lived in apartments and communities that all expressly forbid hanging clothes out to dry in public view. The homeowner's association where I now live states clearly in the regulations that residents cannot erect clotheslines -- on their own property. The implication is clearly that hanging clothes to dry is associated with something lower class and undesirable. Yet, this is the way most people in the world, including those in developed nations, dry their clothes. It's the most environmentally responsible way to do it. It's even free!

So why the stigma? It's disturbing. I wonder what would happen if I petitioned my HOA to let me put up a small clothesline? Heh.

Comments

[nmg.livejournal.com]

The homeowner's association where I now live states clearly in the regulations that residents cannot erect clotheslines -- on their own property. The implication is clearly that hanging clothes to dry is associated with something lower class and undesirable.

Astonishing. I suspect that there may be some recent developments in the UK that have similar covenants, but they'd be in the minority.

[jenn-unplugged.livejournal.com]

I know, isn't it bizarre? I've only come to realize how crazy it is recently. :-P

[ias.livejournal.com]

I have taken several photos of the garklet's nappies on the line as well :) It always makes me feel happy when they are out there and they do some out so much brighter and fresh smelling.

We don't have a dryer at all (although I keep longingly dreaming of one when the weather is as wet as it is at the moment.

However my favourite thing is a line full of white cotton bedlinen. Even better is in the midst of winter, when the rain is lashing, and you make up the bed with those sheets and that glorious sunshine smell that outdoor dried sheets is still lingering on them.

[jenn-unplugged.livejournal.com]

I love how colorful that picture is!

[sassywoman.livejournal.com]

I line dry my pockets and that's about it. I actually keep the drying rack inside because it's just easier for me but I think I'll start sunning when we get some stains or I see the need. My AIO's I dry one time and then line dry.

Yeah, I think it's nuts that people are so anti-clothing lines. Just another thing that we do backwards here in the states.

[jenn-unplugged.livejournal.com]

Line drying pockets is pretty easy, isn't it?. They dry so fast! When Carter outgrows the medium AIOs we have now, I'm not replacing them. Pockets are so much easier to deal with!

[afb.livejournal.com]

I was about to say, for the winter you'd put out wet laundry and bring in cold wet laundry here. XD

[jenn-unplugged.livejournal.com]

LOL, I'll bet!

[violane.livejournal.com]

I have a clothing line! There was one in our backyard when we moved into the house. I don't use it for every load, but I use it often.

[jenn-unplugged.livejournal.com]

Oh, really? Awesome. :-)

[glasshouses.livejournal.com]

( And there's just something cool about hanging them out to dry. )

I read that, then clicked on the link.

And the first image to load...was your corn pone :-D

I actually yipped.

[jenn-unplugged.livejournal.com]

LOL!

[sabrinagb.livejournal.com]

My mother still hangs the majority of her laundry every day of the year that she can. Being in NH, that doesn't happen much past fall, but she loves the scent and the feeling of line drying...including her 'loofa' towels. I hate the towels being line dried because of the scratch, but it would be nice to be able to do such a thing in my apartment. Unfortunately, no can do.

[ias.livejournal.com]

Line-dried towels can be soft - it depends on the weather conditions. If it is a hot day then towels dry quickly and like cardboard. If the day is cooler (c. 16-18degC, 60-65degF) and particularly if there is a good breeze, then the towels should dry soft.

[sabrinagb.livejournal.com]

Interesting...I've never experienced a soft towel on the line. Hmmm, I shall have to tell her that and see if she's ever tried doing them on a cooler day. :o)

Living in Southern California now, I might never get that options...lol.

[jenn-unplugged.livejournal.com]

You know, I don't remember towels being particularly scratchy when I was a kid, and we line dried everything. Of course, we didn't have AC either and I don't remember being miserably hot in the summer... :-P

[sabrinagb.livejournal.com]

I wonder if it is the heat in the northeast...because mom's towels are massively scratchy.

[jedirita.livejournal.com]

I've been air-drying the dipes for several months now - for similar reasons. Unfortunately, it's not feasible for me to dry them outside. Quite aside from the fact that I always do laundry at night! However, I often put my wool cover and particularly stained prefolds out in front of the house to sun for a while. In the morning, I throw the dipes into the dryer for about five minutes to fluff them up.

Another thing I'm wondering these days is, how crucial is to wash on hot? Especially since my washer doesn't have a santitizing setting. Can I get away with washing in warm? Do you know? Or do people wash in hot for maximum stain fighting?

As for the homeowner rule, what happens if you defy the edict? I'd say defy the rule, and if you get caught, use the green argument. Do they have rules against installing solar panelling?

[jenn-unplugged.livejournal.com]

I've seen lots of folks on clothdiapering say that they only wash on cold, so I don't think it's necessary to wash on hot. In fact, some people say that washing on hot wears out the elastic faster, though I have no idea if that's true.

I used to use the sanitary cycle on my washer, in which the water is heated to near boiling. But then I started thinking about the energy use, and I started just washing on the heavy duty cycle with warm and a cold rinse. I didn't see any difference. *shrug*

[jedirita.livejournal.com]

Sweet. I'll have to try it.

[handstil.livejournal.com]

We do a cold pre-rinse, a warm cycle and a cold rinse and it's been fine. They were staining until I realized we have hard water (ugh, bane of CDing!) and started putting calgon in the laundry, now they're fine. I do a bac-out soak from time to time too, for that weird ammonia smell that seems to happen from time to time.

I can't wait till we're in Austin, I bet there is a lot of fun stuff at Whole Foods to try for washing!

[jenn-unplugged.livejournal.com]

I have no idea if we have hard water or not! That's something I should probably figure out. We don't have any major issues with our diapers, though. The biggest issue I have is with an ammonia smell in my BG AIOs. I use bac-out every time I wash and strip when it seems necessary, and that seems to take care of it.

When he outgrows his medium AIOs, I'm not going to replace them. I love the convenience of them, but they are always the first to get smelly. The BG 3.0s are so much easier to take care of! Not to mention that they dry a lot faster...

When you are all settled in here, I hope you can come to a playgroup. It would be great to meet you! :-)

[jedirita.livejournal.com]

Oh, I should add that it took me forever to figure out the wipes, too! I finally had an a-ha moment where I realized, Why in the hell am I drying these things, only to wet them again? Sheesh.

[jenn-unplugged.livejournal.com]

LOL! That was definitely a facepalm moment.

[handstil.livejournal.com]

I hang mine when they need a good sun bleaching but otherwise I am afraid my neighbors will complain. I should really get over that fear. :)