Line Drying Our Clothes....have we gone too far?

The clothes dryer is one of the biggest energy-sucking appliances in the house and let's be honest, it's also one of the most time efficient inventions next to the microwave, especially when you have kids!

This past summer, when my husband and I were coming up with more ways to “go green,” Bryan surprised (and I mean surprised) me with a rather large, ugly looking contraption....a retractable umbrella clothes line! And, it was at this moment, I realized that I was not as “green” as I thought I was...

After a rather long, heated debate...me (and the dryer) won. The clothes line went back into the box it came from and was thrown into the garage with a few choice words from my eager to be “green” husband.

As months went by, time to time, I would think about the clothes line sitting in our garage. But as fast as those thoughts came, they went. Sorry planet earth, my life is too busy to watch paint dry.

Then, as if the universe was testing me, our beloved dryer died, on Christmas. “Merry Christmas,” my husband gleefully shouted...and up went the clothes line in our backyard!

My husband came up with this grand “idea,” but I am the one who has been executing it. Hanging clothes to dry is time consuming. Did you know dog hair won't come off your clothes without the help of a dryer? The towels, oh our ever-so-soft fluffy towels, are now horribly stiff and scratchy and I'm not so sure the clothes have ever smelled “fresh” after hanging in our California air.

But, because I am out of work right now and the temperature has been unseasonably warm, there really isn't a good reason why I shouldn't be using the clothes line.... we are, after all, saving money and energy.


So the next time you see me or my family, please don't judge us by the wrinkly, stiff or damp clothes we are wearing...we are just a family that decided you can never go too “green.”