Clotheslines: A cool way to keep Earth from getting too hot

by Alison Lapp

Associated Press

Ever since dryer sheets took the place of the summer breeze, clotheslines seemed to have gone the way of the porch radio, quaint traditions of previous generations, now confined to black and white photos and period films.

But a recent movement has tied the clothesline to one of today’s most pressing issues and, quite possibly, made the line a hip place for clothes to dry.

Members of “Right to Dry” groups, popping up nationwide, are touting the clothesline as an easy way to go green: It cuts the need for energy‑gobbling electric dryers.

“This is a novel approach to environmental activism because almost everybody has to do laundry,” said Alexander Lee, executive director of Project Laundry List, a New Hampshire‑based clothesline rights group. “We have found a way to get inthe hearts and minds of every American, even if they think what we do is crazy.”

Project Laundry List advocates for legislation that would override neighborhood organization prohibitions against clotheslines and leave it up to each household to determine its drying method.

The movement’s first test will be in North Carolina, where activists hope to prove clotheslines are one of the “energy devices” that a new law protects.

With electric dryers costing more than $100 a year in energy for most households, the benefits to line drying clothes are enormous, Lee said.

There are 88 million electric dryers in the U.S., according to 1995 data from the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. Each year, they consume 1,079 kilowatt hours of energy per household and emit 2,224 pounds of carbon dioxide.

But many homeowners worry the chaos of backyard clothes‑lines will bring down property values, said Frank Rathbun, spokesman for the Community Associations Institute.

Nearly 59 million Americans live in association‑governed communities, according to the institute, and Rathbun said most associations restrict clotheslines to some degree.

It should be up to homeowners to set the rules for their communities, he said. But that doesn’t make the regulations unchangeable.

“We recommend that associations conduct periodic reviews of their rules to ensure they still have the support of residents,” he said. “A rule that residents wanted 10 years ago may not have support today.”

If putting a clothesline up is allowed, Kelly Tagore, an editor for Martha Stewart Living, suggests hanging it where it will be hidden by a fence or won’t be the first thing neighbors see when they look out their windows.

“By all means avoid installing it in a location that preserves your views, only to infringe on theirs,” she said.