Discover the Ecological and Health Benefits of Hanging Laundry out to dry

In many parts of the world, the demise of clothesline use has mirrored the rise of the electric dryer. In North America, since the 1970s, a percentage of communities have restricted clothesline use on the grounds that they are an eyesore and decrease the value of property in the neighbourhoods where they are allowed. (Many new developments have such bylaws to restrict the use of clotheslines.)

In recent times, the concern about global warming has people in the world rethinking their thoughts on electric dryers, with clotheslines and drying racks emerging as a modern badge of green humans. Vancouverite Elizabeth Johnson is one of thousands in Canada, North America and the world that have put their passion in the forefront of their concern about the plight of Mother Earth. This lady co-founded Let’s Hang Out, a small but passionate network of Canadians promoting healthy laundry practices and clotheslines as a low-cost alternative to electric drying and a way to help Mother Nature deal with human progress on her surface.
Clotheslines and hanging clothes have other benefits that make the task even more appealing, it’s both physical activity, a way to get fresh air and can be a meditative and enjoyable experience for those using a clothesline for the first time.

Politicians are starting to get on the ban wagon. In April, Ontario announced restrictions on clotheslines currently in place in housing developments will be lessened, allowing individuals wanting to go a little greener to make use of clotheslines. (Several U.S. states have decided to go green with clotheslines, under the banner of the “Right to Dry” movement.)

A movement that is sure to have its benefits for Mother Earth considering about six percent of the total electric energy used in an average North American household each year is consumed by electric dryers. Estimates by green experts indicate that hanging just 50 percent of North American laundry would cut your electric bill, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution by around 400 kilograms annually.

Canadians are lining up for the benefits of clotheslines as Canadian Francois Pilon, a.k.a. “Mr. Clothesline,” who started his clothesline business 20 years ago when clotheslines were being discarded, has found out in the past five years, with him installing about 800 clotheslines a year.

Clotheslines are becoming the green solution, a lifestyle choice for millions of North Americans and more and more people around the modern world.