Eco-friendly Laundry Tips
Small changes can add up over time. When you wash clothes, be energy smart with these laundry tips:
- Wash full loads. It saves water, energy and time.
- Pay attention to the amount of detergent you use. Too much detergent reduces a washer’s efficiency and dumps more pollutants into local ecosystems. Always read and follow the directions on your detergent box.
- Wash clothes assembly line style. When you use the residual heat in your dryer from the previous load to help start a new load, you save energy. So get in the habit of washing multiple loads sequentially. Pull one load out of the dryer (to fold elsewhere), and then put a new, wet load in right away.
- Use timed drying. Timed dryer settings are convenient and eco-friendly, so be sure to match the drying time to the load every time you dry clothes. For instance, nylon underwear dries faster than, say, a load of denim jeans.
- Wear your clothes more than once. You may change your clothes every day, but that doesn’t mean you have to wash all of your garments after a single wearing. It’s a good bet that many of the outer garments you throw in the laundry through habit aren’t dirty at all. They may just need a few minutes in the dryer to get creases or wrinkles out.
credit: howstuffworks
