Last month, I decided to unplug my clothes dryer and line dry – or over a rack, chair, or railing.
Every few years, the Pew Research Center asks about 1,000 Americans what they think about various appliances. Three years ago, 83 percent responded that a clothes dryer was a necessity. Now one in every three Americans sees this appliance as an unnecessary extravagance requiring a huge commitment of energy to run. In many households, the dryer is the third most energy-hungry appliance after the refrigerator and washer. Air-drying your clothes can reduce the average household’s carbon footprint by 2,400 pounds a year.
This article appears in Aug 19-25, 2009.