Well, I've noticed lots of things. So I've decided I'll write about one every week with "Think Green Thursday."
This week, since I'm on the spot here... is something simple. Did you see my last post? The one about the piles of laundry? Did you know that clothes dryers are so rarely used here that they cost almost twice as much as a washing machine?
Hanging your clothes out to dry is a fantastic way to save resources. If you live in a warm place, it's a no brainer. But, Northern Italy is not exactly a warm place. What do you do all winter long? Well, you get a couple of racks for hanging laundry inside and strategically place them in front of the radiators. And hang clothes directly on the radiators. And talk about multi-tasking!!! They even make radiators with horizontal bars so that they can double as drying racks (and triple as humidifiers). Plus, I never iron, because if you're careful to hang your clothes flat, no wrinkles! Woo hoo! (of course piling them up on to the guest bed in a giant heap kind of negates this effort)
Go Green!
Great advice! We've had to make due with hanging our laundry out since we moved abroad. For the most part i don't mind because it seems to smell fresher and (at least here in Egypt) dries in a pinch! That said, there are some items that i like putting in the dryer for that extra hot please reshrink my clothes feeling. :p
ReplyDeleteYay!
ReplyDeleteThere are not too many things that make me happier than hanging a load of laundry on the line, then taking it off and folding with the smell of outdoors still on it. One day, if I write an autobiography, it might just be called Hanging Laundry.
When my parents visited Italy in 1969 and they showed us kids a slide of laundry hanging from balconies and windows in a city, my mom said "they call that the Neopolitan flag."
Love all that...but I *do* have an ironing man. He has a cast iron iron :) It is huge and heavy and filled with coals from a fire, and he irons my clothes outside under a grass-roof little shelter. I love him :)
ReplyDeleteI loved your post! I've been to Italy a few times and of course, I'm in love with your country! As a tourist, we don't learn everything about how you live each day, so I really enjoyed reading about the radiators! In our hotel rooms we washed clothing in the tub and hung them on elastic clothes lines over the tub :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE hanging my clothes out to dry but here in the American Northeast, it's hard in the winter. I do use my dryer, I'm afraid. But I use a small drying rack too, sometimes. Your post makes me want to do that more this upcoming winter. Thanks for participating this week and for the great badge. I will download when I'm home and add it to the ones I've already displayed.
ReplyDeleteNice to have you on board!
Gina
Nice to see this happening in Italy ! I guess every bit saved is going to go a long way in helping planet earth !
ReplyDeleteI wrote about pressing clothes. And you did about drying ! Some where, something is getting laundered !
:)
excellent advice!!
ReplyDeleteI have several indoor drying thingies in my basement
I'm so pleased you've decided to do pensa verde.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to say, I have not had a clothes drier in over 50 years. But I'm sure you have many other suggestions, and I can't wait to hear them.
What a great idea for a meme!
ReplyDeleteAnd what a smashing first post.
I hang my clothes to dry in the rigging or my boat here in sunny breezy Waikiki!
Ciao & Aloha
Great to see so many "greenies" stopping by. Just to be clear, "Think Green Thursday" was not my creation, but I too love this idea for a meme and plan to contribute regularly.
ReplyDeleteWonderful idea for drying clothing. I have a friend that makes art out of dryer lint can you believe it? Great post!
ReplyDeleteUsing the heat from the radiators is a good idea for speeding up the drying. But air movement works just as well. So if you park a clothes drying rack like this under the ceiling fan it does a dandy job.
ReplyDelete