Blowing in the wind

Tracy Rundle-Woolcock loves to hang out.

In fact The Falls resident has been hanging out for years, since her childhood when her mother taught her how to pin clothing on a line to dry in the breeze.

"There's two reasons why I hang clothes out," said Rundle-Woolcock.

"I love the smell and the freshness of hanging them on the line and I don't like using my dryer in good weather."

On sunny days the mother of two preschoolers regularly uses natural solar and wind power to dry her laundry.

She said it adds an extra step to the laundry chore but it's well worth the effort.

Today hundreds of organizations from around North America will join together to celebrate National Hanging Out Day to educate communities about energy consumption by demonstrating how to save money and energy using a clothesline.

In the United States, six to 10 per cent of residential energy use goes toward running clothes dryers.

Lorraine Blakeney of MacPhersons Mills hangs her laundry outside year-round because it saves money, energy and reduces greenhouse gases.

"I try to use it all year-round," said Blakeney.

"If it's a sunny day in the winter I hang out my clothes."

She said another benefit of hanging clothes outside is the sun acts as a natural bleach keeping whites bright.

"It also gives you a little bit of exercise," said Blakeney.

"The motion of picking up the basket, taking them outside and pinning them up - it burns a few calories."

Blakeney believes hanging out clothes is a civil right and strongly feels there should be legislation in place to prevent developers from banning clothes lines in some areas.

She would also like to see more people encouraged to hang clotheslines of their own.

TOP FIVE REASONS TO HANG OUT YOUR CLOTHES

Electric dryers use five to ten percent

of residential energy.

1. Clothes last longer.

2. Clothes and sheets smell better.

3. Save energy, preventing pollution.

4. Save money.

5. You get some exercise and can do this activity outside.

Source: http://laundrylist.org/index.htm



Hanging Out tips to make

the chore a breeze:

‰ Always hang items big to small.

‰ T-shirts should be hung by the shoulders with an extra pin in the middle to prevent stretching.

‰ Use extra pins to ensure heavy items don't blow off the line.

‰ Pants should be hung by the bottom of the leg to speed up drying.

‰ Fold sheets so they billow in the wind.