opinion: carbon calculator, week 5

 

Week 5 in the continuing series of what is missing from Carbon Calculators.  

There is a list of the things that those calculators don’t ask, thereby eliminating them from their algorithm. These are the things that are sometimes the meat of the matter, so to speak. By altering these things, you could affect your true footprint in ways unimaginable and truly make our planet sustainable.

DRYING YOUR CLOTHES

So.. you now wash your clothes in cold water.  And, despite loving the mountain fresh scent, you got rid of your Tide and replaced it with Seventh Generation.  But then you still throw everything in the dryer, effectively canceling out what you did by all the other improvements.

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), the average household dryer consumes 1,079 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, which amounts to 2,224 pounds of carbon dioxide. If every US household let one load of laundry air-dry, 250,000 tons of CO2 could be saved.  This is equivalent to shutting down 15 nuclear power plants or cutting back coal use by 30 million tons each year. 

Can you imagine what could be done if you let every load air dry?  

But I’m not done with all the benefits.  Many people have humidifiers in there home, using even more energy, as it churns away putting moisture into the air.  However, if you replace that humidifier with a standing dryer rack ($20 at most home marts) filled with wet clothes, you will have the exact same affect.  For free.

There is also the reduction in environmental contaminants.  There have been many studies lately on the harmful affects of phthalates.  These are commonly found in artificial scents, like those found in laundry detergent and dryer sheets.  These chemicals are known hormone mimickers, having harmful effects on children.  They are most often release when heated.  Every time you or your neighbor runs their dryer and the exhaust goes out into the community, the chemicals are released into the air we breathe.  In other words, you would be wise to cover your mouth and nose when you smell the spring rain as you walk your dog through the neighborhood.  By not using a dryer, you have eliminated this entire situation.

Cost.  Drying clothes is 7% of the household electricity usage.  It is estimated that your household can save $135 per year on utility costs.  It is the equivalent of energy and cost savings by draft proofing your home.

But there is a secret cost that is saved, as well.  A standard t-shirt lasts about 25-30 dryer cycles before most people decide it is faded and damaged enough to throw it away.  The damage is caused by the heat and the exposure to the chemicals.  As the clothes are dried they shrink, ever so slightly.  As you put the clothes on they stretch and either the elastic goes out, or the material thins and tears.  Also, because of the heat, your favorite kelly green shirt is now closer to key lime green and doesn’t match the jeans you bought to go with it.  When you throw away the one shirt and buy another, you are spending the $30-60, months, or years, sooner than you needed to.