Did you know that the average family uses 13,500 gallons of water a year just washing clothes? Add into the impact of the detergent and machine drying, and you can see how drastically your laundry can impact the environment. Here are some ways that you can reduce the impact of your laundry.
The easiest way to go for an immediate reduction in the impact from your laundry is by switching detergent. There are a number of good ecologically friendly detergents on the market right now. Choose a responsible laundry detergent, to lessen your impact.
The next step you can take to reduce the impact of your laundry is to hang your laundry to dry. Hanging your laundry takes less work than you might think. You can hang it in the morning and come home to dry, wrinkle-free clothes. There is no need to take the clothes immediately out of the dryer in order to prevent wrinkles (and you’ll save on electricity to iron them). If you don’t have the space to put up an outdoor clothesline, consider hanging one indoors over your bathtub, in the basement or in a spare room.
Reducing the amount of laundry you do is another way to reduce your impact. Can clothes be worn more than once. Can you air out some items instead of automatically throwing them into the wash. The same can go for dry cleaning. You can often treat a spot or stain locally if needed, and then just allow the garment to hang in the fresh air before wearing it again.
Finally, you can reduce your impact by carefully choosing clothing and bedding responsibly. Look for products made from naturally sustainable fibers or recycled materials. Also choose products that are manufactured close to home if possible. Repurpose old clothing into new garments and accessories, such as cutting things down and reusing the material or turning jeans into handbags as mentioned in an earlier post.
You can read more blog posts by Mary Ann Romans here!
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