Clotheslines Part Deux

Oho! There she goes with that fancy, show-offy French stuff again...

Fascinating comments yesterday on clotheslines...a lot of love out there for that fresh-air smell...yet many of you live in places where clotheslines are prohibited. Amazing that this Major Energy Saver and traditional household applicance still used by most people on our planet is considered an embarrassing eyesore and actually against the law in neighborhoods and cities across America. How did that happen? A conspiracy by Maytag and GE to bolster sales? The patriarchy condemning housework as part of an anti-feminist agenda? Middle-class families pretending that they don't "do" laundry by hiding the chore indoors so they can seem part of the upper-class? It's a post or two and a length of rope. It's practical, prescribed by Al Gore to help stop climate change, and it saves households money. Who demonized the poor clothesline and why? Readers, what are your theories?

For those of you revving up to take your housing authority or covenant to task on this grave matter, here are some fun facts to bolster your pro-clothesline arguments:

From the U.S. Department of Energy

• Consider air-drying clothes on clothes lines or drying racks. Air-drying is recommended by clothing manufacturers for some fabrics.
  
  
• $ Long-Term Savings Tip: ENERGY STAR does not label clothes dryers because most of them use similar amounts of energy, which means there is little difference in energy use between models.

In a less shocking discovery, I came across a website dedicated to this issue. Project Laundry List has links to legislative initiatives all over America and you can register your community on their website to restore your "right to dry." There's even a national holiday, April 19th is deemed National Hanging Out Day. I'm planning to participate if it's not raining. Check it out!

Finally, Jen on the Edge had a question that may have burned in minds besides hers:
What inquiring minds really want to know is the story about the tent city in your backyard.

Oh. That.

Some of you probably guessed it was some of my long-lost gypsy relatives swinging through for a visit. Others of you might have thought it was the sideshow tent for Team Testosterone and Their Feats of Derring-Do. Let's take a closer look...

That, friends, is a partially dismantled Rainbow Play Set (the yellow bit to the left is the slide laying on its side). The two pallets (wrapped in brown and blue tarp, respectively) are lightweight concrete and the liner for a swimming pool, which also explains the huge swath of mud running through the yard.

Looking at a high of 51 degrees today here, so I'm off to get some clothes hung on the line and take advantage of the weather and my Freedom to Hang Out!

Posted in: Environment, politics, still living and learning