3 Steps to Save Money, Save Energy, and Reduce CO2, Doing Your Laundry
I’ve been pondering ways to save money and reduce my energy consumption around the house and I stumbled upon interesting ways to save money doing my laundry.
First a few facts:
1) According to a laundry article I found on the City of Concord’s website, doing your laundry has a significant impact on our environment. Did you know that over the lifetime of a T-shirt up to 9 lbs of carbon dioxide can be release in the air just through washing and drying?
These are general usage cost for a family of 4 for a washer and dryer
Clothes washer (with hot water) -
Electricity kWh/yr - 1,080
Cost /Year - $86
CO2 emitted/yr 1,544
Clothes washer (minus hot water)
Electricity kWh/yr - 99
Cost /Year $8
CO2 emitted/yr 142
Clothes dryer
Electricity kWh/yr - 1,060 -
Cost /Year $85 -
CO2 emitted/yr- 1,516
Surprising huh?
So what is my plan? Well, I have a few obstacles but I can still make a difference. First the simple fix……
1) Wash my clothes in cold water. I had no idea that the hot water consumed 90 percent of a washers energy usage.
Second fix a little more challenging but doable……
2) Line dry my clothes. This is FREE SOLAR ENERGY and another big way to save on energy, laundry supplies and to preserve the longevity of your clothing. Have you ever smelled line dried sheets and towels? They are the best! Did you know the sun is a natural whitener as well as a natural antibacterial? A couple of challenges are living in a community that doesn’t let you hang your laundry as mine doesn’t allow you to hand your laundry outside. I’m thinking about hanging my laundry in the garage or you can watch this funny video clip that is trying to get a petition signed so it is a right to hang your laundry. Check it out here.
Another advantage to line drying is you don’t need to use bleach or fabric softener, just shake, snap and hang your clothes upside down. If you really don’t like the stiffness of your jeans just toss them in the dryer for a couple of minute on wrinkle release.
3) Finally, use a really good biodegradable phosphate free laundry soap.
Here’s a link to some laundry soap options
Are you going green using dryer balls?
I woke us this morning thinking about dryer balls. Don’t ask me why I do not know…. Anyway, I was trying to think of one small change I could make today and I was wondering if they were hype or not and this is what I came up with.
1) Using dryer balls will reduce dryer time by approximately 25% so if you have an electric dryer as I do that is significant to me.
2) I’m not crazy about using dryer balls that are made with PVC plastic but I’m investigating “Nellies Dryer Balls” apparently they are not made with PVC plastic and come with a two year warranty.
3) If you are vegetarian, you might not want to use dryer sheets as they main contain “tallow” an animal by product.
4) Obviously dryer sheets and fabric softeners contain chemicals dryer balls soften clothes naturally but you may still experience static cling with man made fabrics
5) Using dryer balls helps reduce lint which should mean less wear and tear on your clothing and help reduce the buildup in your lint trap.
I personally have never used dryer balls but I’m thinking it’s worth a try and I decided to try an experiment.
First, if using dryer balls does reduce dryer time why can’t I throw a couple of tennis balls in my dryer to prove the theory? After all wool is a natural fiber. They may make a little noise but it doesn’t cost me anything.
Second, if my drying time is reduced which is my main objective because I’m lazy about using dryer sheets anyway. I think I’ll invest in Nellies Dryer Balls because I’m hoping they’ll be quieter.
