Today we will be focusing on the fun chore we all deal with. LAUNDRY.
Laundry, to be honest, is a chore I can just never keep up with. It seems that as soon as the weekly wash is done, there is already another pile that needs washing.
But does that have to do with being nice to the environment? PLENTY.
Being in an apartment, you have three typical scenarios you are dealing with: a local laundromat, an apartment complex laundromat or (I’m jealous if you have this) your very own washer and dryer in-apartment. But, believe it or not, my tips will be the same for all these three scenarios!
Newbie
Cost: it will actually save you money!
Time: seconds
Energy to do this: minimal
My tip for you is to get used to doing only full loads of laundry in cold water. Why is this a green tip? First, because there is no need to wash half a load of laundry. Save yourself the trip to the laundromat and the quarters by waiting a few days until you have a full load. Second, by using even warm water in washing and cold in the rinse cycle can save over three times the energy of washing and rinsing with hot water! The best thing is using the cold/cold setting if the washer has it because at least 3/4 of the energy used in any washer is to heat the water – so go colder and your clothes will be just as clean.
Sidenote: I still wash my whites (a full load!) in hot water and rinse in cold water. If you were married to a hockey player, you would too!
Amateur Environmentalist
Cost: about the same amount you would have used on conventional laundry detergents
Time: seconds to decide on the brand you want
Energy to do this: minimal
Switch from the detergents chock-full of petroleum-based (as in OIL), phosphates (water softeners that damage bodies of water) and “optical brighteners” (chemicals to make whites appear whiter which are toxic to aquatic life and not biodegradable) to an eco-friendly, plant-based laundry liquid or powder that will clean your clothes just as well. There are several brands out there – Seventh Generation, Eco-Cover and store brands at your local health food store. The great thing about these liquids in particular is you don’t need to use as much as with conventional detergents and the scents aren’t so nauseatingly perfume-like.
You can also nix those dryer sheets. Trader Joe’s (my store of choice, next to Henry’s) offer these great little sachets full of lavender. You throw them in the dryer with your clothes and they nix the static, lightly scent the clothes and help repel moths. After the 6 dryer trips I rip open the sachet, pour them over the carpet and vacuum them up 10 minutes later to refreshen the room.
Certified Tree-Hugger
Cost: this will save you money!
Time: actively – 30-45 minutes depending on how many clothes you washed, passively – an extra few hours compared to the dryer
Energy to do this: moderate
Hang-dry your clothes. Yes, it is an extra commitment time-wise, but the sheer energy you save is pretty amazing. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, this is how you calculate this:
(Wattage × Hours Used Per Day ÷ 1000 = Daily Kilowatt-hour (kWh) consumption
A typical clothes dryer is measured at 1800-5000 watts. We’ll take the mean of this for our calculations, guessing at 2 loads of laundry per week done once per week per person.
(3400 Watts × 3 hours/day × 52 days/year) ÷ 1000
= 530.4 kWh × 8.5 cents/kWh
= $45.08/year
I don’t know about you, but that’s one month’s electric bill for my household! That’s a lot of energy to save.
A little tip: I’ve noticed when I hang dry my jeans and sweatshirts, they get a little tough. To correct this, I’ve used 1/2-1 cup of white vinegar in the wash as a natural clothes softener which also helps with color-fastness and odors.
Happy laundering!
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Like the tips but have an even better one? Leave it in a comment!
