Extreme Drying - Clothesline Edition

The Pacific Northwest is not noted for extremes in the weather. It is usually a moderate, albeit damp, climate; we do not have to cope with many intense weather conditions. So when the rare weather event happens that we are not prepared for, it throws the whole region into a frenzied tizzy.

When it snows too much, there are not enough snowplows to clear the streets. When a wind storm knocks the power out, there are never any generators. When the highest temperatures ever recorded in Seattle hit this past week, we were hard-pressed to find a place with air conditioning.

Since I am an avid air-dryer, I decided to use this hot time as an experiment to see how long my laundry would dry in 100 degree + temperatures. I washed a load of heavy towels and hung them out. I checked them after two hours and they were completely dry, so they probably dried in less time than that. The next day the temperature climbed to 103 degrees. I didn't feel like hanging clothes outside, so I used a drying rack inside (where it was a cool 91 degrees). They also dried very quickly, almost like flash insta-drying!

There was absolutely no way you could have gotten me to use a dryer in that heat; it would have been unbearable. On a normal day here, it takes the better part of a day for my laundry to dry outside so it was really fun to have it dry so fast. I felt like I was experiencing what a good part of the country usually feels like during the summer. Why more people do not use the convenient 'flash-dry' clothesline method, I'll never know.

The excessive heat warning has been canceled here. It is still hot, but bearable. The heat is now headed east, so those of you in the Midwest and beyond - here it comes. No more excuses - give your dryer a break this summer!

Marilyn

Maybe it is time for a little control

H.R. 3247 was introduced by Congresssman Brian Baird, who is Chairman of the Energy & Environment Subcommittee of the Science & Technology Committee. Hon. Baird has collected great testimony, but faced some difficult opposition in a hearing earlier this week where people accused him of trying to spend taxpayer dollars on mind-control. The Heritage Foundation had this to say.

Here is the text of the bill:

To establish a social and behavioral sciences research program at the Department of Energy, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES RESEARCH PROGRAM.

(a) In General- The Secretary shall establish a social and behavioral sciences research program to identify and understand social and behavioral factors that influence energy consumption and acceptance and adoption rates of new energy technologies, and to promote the utilization of the results of social and behavioral research to improve the design, development, demonstration, and application of energy technologies.

(b) Director- The Secretary shall appoint or designate a Director of Social and Behavioral Research to carry out the program established under this section.

(c) Duties of the Director- The Director shall--

(1) develop a research plan in accordance with section 2;

(2) implement the research program under this section;

(3) work with the relevant Department of Energy program offices to integrate the results of social and behavioral research into their work;

(4) develop tools, practices, and information to apply and integrate the results of social and behavioral research into programs that--

(A) design, develop, and demonstrate technologies that supply energy and improve energy efficiency; and

(B) provide information on energy consumption to consumers; and

(5) assist the Secretary in awarding research grants under section 3.

SEC. 2. RESEARCH PLAN.

(a) In General- The Director, in consultation with the Advisory Committee established under section 4, shall develop a research plan and, not later than 9 months after the date of enactment of this Act, transmit such plan to the Congress. Prior to finalizing the research plan, the Director shall publish a draft of the proposed research plan in the Federal Register with a public comment period of not less than 30 days.

(b) Contents of Research Plan- The research plan shall--

(1) set forth priorities and a schedule for carrying out the research program under section 1 and the research grant program under section 3;

(2) address social and behavioral factors that influence--

(A) patterns of energy consumption by individuals, households, and businesses; and

(B) decisions to implement energy conservation measures,

including the factors that influence decisions to adopt energy efficient technologies and practices;

(3) include a description of the mechanisms the Department will use to integrate the findings of social and behavioral research into other relevant Department programs; and

(4) include responses to comments received during the public comment period.

(c) Review and Revision- The Director shall review the research plan every 5 years and revise the plan as appropriate.

SEC. 3. SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH GRANTS.

(a) In General- The Secretary shall provide grants to support social and behavioral research consistent with the research plan developed under section 2.

(b) Awards- Grant awards under this section may be for a period up to 3 years. The Secretary shall award grants through a competitive, merit-based, peer-reviewed process.

(c) Authorization of Appropriations- There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2015.

SEC. 4. SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

(a) Establishment- The Secretary shall establish an Advisory Committee composed of experts in relevant fields--

(1) to advise the Secretary and the Director on priority areas for research;

(2) to assist the Director in the development of the research plan under section 2; and

(3) to provide other assistance and advice as requested by the Secretary or the Director.

(b) Federal Advisory Committee Act- Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Advisory Committee established under subsection (a) until 3 years after the date the Advisory Committee is established.

Bald Guy 035 LaundryList

Powerful, pithy, and fact-filled. Take a gander and send this to your pals.

Bill McKibben: Greetings from Varanasi, India

Greetings from Varanasi, India. I was thinking of you yesterday, as we floated along the Ganges by this holiest of cities. There were pilgrims arriving for the once-in-a-lifetime chance to dunk themselves in the purifying waters of this holy place, side by side with lots of locals doing their laundry. We watched people pounding shirts and trousers against the rocks, and then hanging them on long clotheslines that stretched up the ghats, or stone steps, that led away from the riverbank. Sari cloths, as big as bedsheets, were laid flat to dry on the stone steps.

We are here organizing for 350.org and big day of global climate action on Oct. 24--and this is a place where people really understand global warming, if for no other reason than the upstream glacier that is the source of the Ganges is melting ferociously. It's good to see evidence of their practical commitment spread out in the sun, and to be reminded that all of us can put solar power to work. Even if we don't live in holy cities, we've still got the sun smiling on us!

ACTION ALERT: Write to Greenwich, CT Housing Authority

	Our Mission Project Laundry List is making air-drying laundry acceptable and desirable as a simple and effective way to save energy. The Washboard Executive Director Alexander Lee Board of Advisors Helen Caldicott, M.D. Sabra Field Doris "Granny D" Haddock Barbara James Sen. Richard McCormack Bill McKibben David T. Suzuki, Ph.D. Board of Directors Tom Osmer, Chair J. Bryan Wentzell, Vice-Chair James Thaxton, Secretary Jeremy Eggleton Roger Tilton Rhiya Trivedi Alisa Barnard Join Our Community Petition the President Write a Letter to Greenwich Housing Authority Greenwich, trying hard to remain the most elitist place in America, bans its poorest people from using clotheslines. Please write a letter to: Anthony L. Johnson, Executive Director Public Housing Authority 249 Milbank Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830 and express your concern. You may also want to write to select board members, whose addresses can be found at http://www.greenwichct.org/contactus.asp. It is worth noting that the First Selectman is in favor of clotheslines so please thank him for his support. You will want to mention that there are 17,000 dryer fires, causing 15 deaths and 400 injuries every year in the US, according to the NFPA and FEMA's Fire Statistics Bureau. If you want the good people of Greenwich to pay attention, you should also mention that there is approximately $200 million of property value damage associated with this. "None of the national coalitions against the death penalty nor any suicide prevention organizations nor the NFL or any boxing organizations that we are aware of keep statistics about the number of people clothes-lined or killed by a clothesline each year," said Alexander Lee. "What we do know is that people who are eager to save 20% on their monthly electric bill should be allowed to so because it addresses the crises of personal finances, energy security, and climate change, not just fire safety." The dryer is the leading cause of fires among household appliances and the second biggest energy-guzzler after the refrigerator. Johnson may have grown up in the South (which is relevant how?), but he has clearly done some pretty odd calculations about the safety of his tenants. Try not to ridicule him in your letter, because we want them to change the rules. Thank you. Alexander Lee Executive Director Project Laundry List Photo courtesy of Betsy Gammons

Local Teacher Inspires National Movement

FAIRHOPE, Ala. (July 20, 2009) – It’s no secret that many school programs across the nation are suffering at the expense of the present economy. That is why local artist and teacher Nancy Raia is making sure that students at Alabama schools continue to have the opportunity to tap into their creative sides…and their inner environmentalist.

Raia, Community Arts Director at the Eastern Shore Art Center in Fairhope, initially created the “Traveling Pants” show in 2007, which honored Earth Fest and the Five Rivers Delta Resource Center in Mobile by displaying local students’ artwork painted on old jeans.

“I asked each student I met what was the favorite thing they did outside when they were six years old,” Raia said. “Then I asked them to imagine that they were 88 years old and what they wanted to still be here that they could show their grandchildren.”

Seeing how enthusiastically the kids responded to the environmental theme, she was eager spread the scope and impact of the project, and to involve the rest of the state in conserving Alabama’s natural resources. In early 2009, Raia received a grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts, and what once was a local effort to conserve the Mobile Delta soon became a statewide art and conservation program called the Alabama Initiative.

The Initiative now brings old jeans to schools across the state, where Raia combines an art lesson with a lesson in state environmental conservation. The combination has proven to be a win-win situation for cash-strapped art departments and the students who suffer as a result. Local environmental causes are also benefited as the students’ jeans are shown across the country.

Raia’s first in school experience with the Initiative came in February 2009, when she teamed up with Diane McKinnon at the Marine Resources Division and EPIC school in downtown Birmingham. The school had not had an art teacher in three years. The two women shared marine life specimens from the Mobile Delta with the students and gave them the opportunity to share their experiences with nature in a special art class.


“Some of them were shy at first, but it was incredible to watch them open up as artists and turn their stories, some of them really personal, into something so inspiring,” Raia said. “I remember one little girl painted a park that she used to go to with her grandmother. I remember her saying, ‘Grandma isn’t here anymore, but the park is.’”

Moments like these are what Raia believes to be the most important benefit of the Alabama Initiative. Raia believes strongly in the therapeutic aspects of art, which is why she is working so hard to make sure it is not permanently lost in Alabama’s schools. Art needs to be part of our children’s education because art is education, she says.

Raia was reminded of this lesson when she brought the Initiative to the St. Clair County Day Program; a school that helps court ordered children improve their behavior and stay on track scholastically

“Many of the students had difficulty staying on task, but they loved the concept and worked hard,” Raia said. “In addition to being an art lesson, it became a lesson in discipline.”

Raia knows a bit about the obstacles involved with being an artist. When first struck by the idea to create the Alabama Initiative, she was met with a surprising degree of skepticism. Leave it to a teacher to find a lesson in any tough situation.

“I got laughed at when I first created the project,” she said. “But I went ahead and did it because I believed in it. When I ask my students if anyone ever laughed at them for having an idea, they nod their heads in agreement. I always tell my students that artists are problem solvers.”

In April, the top jeans from each statewide group were selected to be part of a show at the Eastern Shore Art Center. Students whose jeans were selected had the opportunity to share the story that inspired their creation. The Traveling Pants/Alabama Initiative is on the road once again, spreading the messages of students from across the state.

For more information about the Traveling Pants/Alabama Initiative, please contact Nancy Raia at the Eastern Shore Art Center in Fairhope. ESAC is home to five galleries that change monthly as well as to a member’s sales gallery. The Academy at ESAC offers classes for adults and children on a quarterly basis. The galleries are open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. 251-928-2228.

Erma Bombeck on Creeping Privacy Paranoia

The other day I was sent a clipping of a column by Erma Bombeck which was published March 4, 1986. I am posting this because of its reference to clotheslines.

By Erma Bombeck

Creeping privacy paranoia. Sounds like something of of the spring nursery catalogue, doesn't it? Actually it's a name I made up for a trend that has already hit the cities and may eventually invade the countryside.

It's a concentrated effort to seek privacy from the rest of the world. I'm not sure when it started, but the front porch was one of its first victims. Remember front porches? They had a swing that squeaked and metal chairs that rusted and always needed painting. Everbody in the neighborhood used to sit out there ater dinner and sometimes they talked back and forth to one another. Nothing important. The weather. How the grass would have to be cut before the weekend. How the next one up could get the lemonade.

And then the front yards got smaller and smaller and the front porch was phased out to a pot of dead flowers and a doorbell you couldn't hear in the back yard. The back yard became Disneyland with a barbecue, jungle gym, patio, lounges, sandbox and vegetable garden. It was only a matter of time before the clothesline marred the scene and had to go. And with it went a
part of Americana that will never have such an impact on American families.

The clothesline was a meeting place of women. They caught up on the events of the day, shared, dumped on one another and clung together. The cothesline was the original newspaper of the community. By reading the clothes you could tell who was toilet trained , who was not, who came home on leave, who had guests, who got something new, who cleaned house, who did not, who had sick children, who was out of work, who was going on vacation, who was entertaining, who overslept.

There didn't seem to be anything from neighbors they needed anymore. Large freezers held a storehouse of food supplies that you might have "borrowed" in earlier times.

Unlisted phone numbers protected you from bothersome calls, and when you went outside to cut the grass of take a walk, there were headphones to isolate you from "hellos."

Creeping privacy paranoia got a toehold in society when we no longer needed humans to run our elevators, get our groceries, take us to a fitting room or assist us with withdrawals at the bank.

I'm as much a carrier of creeping privacy paranoia as anyone else. I've traded communication for bumper stickers, sociability for technology and accessibility for "Wheel of Fortune."

What brought all this on was the other Sunday I was walking through the neigborhood and realized behind every wall were lounge chairs with no one louging in them, barbecue grills with nothing cooking on them and locks on gates where no one wanted in.

I used to talk to myself. I don't even do that anymore. Maybe we're becoming too private.

For more from Erma, see The American Clothesline- April 20, 1967

The American Clean Energy Security Act

The Energy and Environment Committee of the Senate will roll out its version of ACES (The American Clean Energy Security Act) on September 8th!

In its current form ACES is unacceptable. While it has some elements that we can support, ACES essentially rewards the fossil fuel industry with subsidies through cap and trade proposals, spends federal and ratepayer dollars on coal and other forms of fossil fuels that we certainly do not need and allocates tax dollars to carbon capture and sequestration of coal. (To see CLEAN's analysis of the bill click here).

ACES will not be changed UNLESS you and your communities act now.

The Senate will undoubtedly hear from the lobbyists of the fossil fuel industry. It is urgent that you call your Senate office, set up meetings with both Senators from your state and mobilize other people in your community to do the same.

Call your Senators (Get Started Here) and ask them to:

1) Recognize that the current version of ACES as passed by the House of Representatives does not
adequately address global warming, fails to encourage true economic and energy security for
Americans, and continues the transfer of wealth from taxpayers to the coal, nuclear, and fossil-fuel
industry - a result of that industry's immense power and influence. It is a costly way to not fix our
problems adding to, rather than reducing, our unsustainable national debt. There are alternatives
that are a smarter use of public funds, a least-cost approach that will adopt a straightforward clean
energy path, solve global warming and help lead us out of rising debt.

2) Eliminate subsidies for the coal industry by eliminating all federal funding for carbon capture and
sequestration (CCS) research. If the coal industry wants to see if CCS can work, the coal industry
should make the investment.

3) Eliminate the cap and trade system proposed in the House of Representatives bill (ACES).

4) Vigorously fund renewable energy programs.

5) If ACES isn't changed along these lines, vote against the bill and start over!

Meeting with your Senators during the August recess:

The Senate is on recess from August 6th until Labor Day (September 7th). This is a good time for your organization to meet with both Senators from your state. Use the CLEAN statement as the basis for your meeting.

A Clothesline Opportunity

I sometimes wonder that, if my dryer hadn't conked out three years ago, would I be using a clothesline today? I would like to think so, but I must admit that sometimes (in my darker moments...) it would be so much easier to just toss a load in the dryer. But since I don't have a newfangled dryer tempting me with all its bells and whistles; I hang.

Sometimes opportunity comes in strange ways. It's whether or not we choose to take that opportunity that is quite often the hard part. I understand the beauty and nostalgia of hanging laundry, but it's the actual DOING it that is quite often difficult. I love this quote by Thomas Alva Edison, "Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work". And yes, let's be honest, sometimes hanging laundry is just plain work...but within it lies great opportunity. Opportunity to save energy and money. Opportunity for your clothes to last longer. Opportunity to do your own small part for the greater good of the earth.

So while the humble clothespin has 100% hold on me now; I do understand the hesitance of some to actually get going and actually do it themselves. Hanging laundry around the house in the depths of winter is not fun. But it is countered with the sheer joy of hanging outside in the summertime. It does take effort, planning, and a good eye on the weather report, but it is so worth it. Small smug satisfaction can be a good feeling too!

So those of you who like the idea of hanging laundry, but have yet to try it, I say start small and see how you like it. You might be surprised at the ease of hanging. No waiting around for the dryer to dry the load; you are free to leave! No risk of a dryer fire. Lower energy bills too.
I started air-drying out of sheer necessity at the time of my dryer failure. I was really mad at the time without the use of my once-beloved dryer. But you know what? I got over it. You will too.

Marilyn

What Would Laura Do?

Laura Ingalls Wilder, that is. In preparing for an article today on clotheslines for Early Homes magazine, I came across some clothesline quotes from the "Little House" series. And who could have imagined that a clothesline would save Pa and Almanzo from getting lost in the harsh prairie blizzards while heading to their barns? (Not once but on numerous occasions.) PHOTO: From the Ingalls Homestead (recreated) in DeSmet, South Dakota.

From On the Banks of Plum Creek:

Even though the sunny day was not Monday, Ma washed the clothes and hung them on the clothesline to freeze dry. That day there were no lessons.

From Farmer Boy:

Then the carpets were hung on the clotheslines outdoors, and he had to beat them with a long stick…

From By the Shores of Silver Lake:

Next day Laura helped to wash all the quilts and blankets. She was glad to lug the loaded basket out to the clothesline in the sweet, chilly March weather.

From The Long Winter:

Pa sat down and leaned to the heater, holding out his hands to warm them. But he was uneasily listening to the wind. Before long he started up from his chair.

“I’m going to do the chores before this get any worse,” he said. “It may take me some time but don’t worry, Caroline. Your clothesline’ll hold and get me back all right.”

Same book, different blizzard:

“Jerusalem crickets! This is a humdinger!” he exclaimed. “Good thing the stable is tight. I had to dig my way into it. Snow was packed as high as the door. Lucky I put your clothesline where I did, Caroline. I had to come back to the lean-to to get the shovel, but there was the clothesline to hang on to. Hot pancakes and fried pork look good to me! I’m hungry as a wolf.”

Pa was gone a long time. Ma set the supper back to keep warm. She did not light the lamp, and they all sat thinking that the clothesline would guide Pa through the blinding blizzard.

From The First Four Years:

For three days and nights the blizzard raged. Before Manly went to the barn again, he followed the house wall to where the long rope clothesline was tied at the corner. With his hand on the rope, he followed it to the back of the house. Unfastening it at the corner, he followed the house around to the door and fastened the rope there, and to the loose end he tied a shorter rope, the drying line he had put up in the storm shed. Now unreeling the rope as he went he could go to the haystack at the barn door, make the rope fast, and follow it back to the house safely. After that he went to the barn and cared for the stock once a day.

From On the Way Home (this section, written by daughter Rose Wilder, describes the houses as they appeared in 1894 in their new town of Mansfield, Missouri where they settled for over sixty years):

All the houses had front porches; all were painted and trimmed with different colors and wooden lace. Behind them were vegetable gardens and clotheslines, barns and chicken houses; some had pigpens.

Now those are my kinds of houses!

Catherine Seiberling Pond is a freelance writer on design and historical topics and author of The Pantry–Its History and Modern Uses [Gibbs Smith: 2007].

© Catherine Seiberling Pond

The Right to Dry

Yesterday I was so inspired by the CBS Sunday Morning profile on "The Right to Dry" that I had to get right up from my cup of coffee to blog about the issue of clotheslines. My blog In the Pantry has covered pantries, recipes, farm life, and other domestic topics for four years, as well as a penchant for practical, even nostalgic things. [For two other related laundry blogs click here and here at a book group blog, Cupcake Chronicles, where I also contribute.] PHOTO: Laundry on a clothesline is a regular sight at farmhouses as seen at this Old Order Mennonite farm in south-central Kentucky.

Today I was invited to participate and "hang out" on this blog as a "Clothes Pegger," an honor for which I am grateful.

Living now where we do in south-central, very rural Kentucky, where everyone has a clothesline it seems, I was surprised that there needs to be such a movement that allows people the right to have clotheslines, but there it is. Clotheslines have never had a negative connotation for me as they have always seemed economical and environmentally-friendly, too. In the United States I've seen them outside of farmhouses, on fire escapes, and strung from houses in many European cities. Growing up in Akron, Ohio they were everywhere in the back of our small, well-manicured suburban house lots, usually on those spinning deals. I've seen walled-in yards on great estates and work yards in the back of urban row houses designed just for hanging out laundry. Clotheslines are both ubiquitous and universal.

There is a beauty and certain randomness of pattern to clothes hung on a line and they are as noiseless as a billowing sail. [I even wanted one at our historic home in the center of our former New Hampshire village, tucked discreetly between our barn and the stonewall. Problem was, that particular stonewall was shared with the town library and talk about airing our dirty laundry! I don't know if our historic district commission was against them or not but I know, at the time, my husband was. He has since come around on the subject.]

In future postings I will include more photographs–I have always gone around photographing clotheslines. I also will include quotes from literary sources like this one that I found today in a book I read a few months ago: Little Heathens–Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression [Bantam: 2008] by Mildred Armstrong Kalish. I highly recommend this book. In her acquired Depression-era childhood, infused with no-nonsense wisdom, she is an exemplar for living frugally and sensibly today.

This excerpt was taken from her chapter entitled, "Wash Day":

Is there any sense in trying to make the modern-day reader understand the immense satisfaction we experienced in viewing our bright, clean wash arranged in such a meticulous fashion on the clothesline? Heaven knows we had more than enough to do without this added display of superhousewifery. But the whole ritual was a matter of pride...

In the summertime the clothes would sometimes dry so fast that by the time we got the second basket out to the line, the first batch was already dry. We removed the clothes from the line as soon as they dried, being careful not to wrinkle the sweet-smelling, deliciously warm, sun-dried garments. We, meaning Grandma, Mama, my little sister, and I, would immediately put the sheets and pillowcases back on the beds, looking forward to the time when we could lie down on them. To crawl between crisp sheets, warm and fresh from the sun and air, at the end of a bone-wearying day, is one of the true soul-restoring luxuries of life, which hardly anyone of the current generation will ever know.

Here's to more clotheslines with laundry "warm and fresh from the sun and air." Thank you, Mildred. Thank you Project Laundry List.

Catherine Seiberling Pond is a freelance writer on design and historical topics and author of The Pantry–Its History and Modern Uses [Gibbs Smith: 2007].

© Catherine Seiberling Pond
Please do not reprint article or use photograph without permission of Project Laundry List or the author.

The Right to Dry on CBS

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Martha has a great rack

Check out this great design for a clothes drying rack from Martha Stewart. Soon she will be selling them.

See Drying Rack Drawing and Martha talking about it.