Earth Day is an annual event celebrated around the world on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection.
Many Americans these days are thinking a lot more about the effect their behavior has on the environment. They’re investing in smart thermostats to save energy, recycling everything they can and buying products from companies that value important environmental causes, among others. But sustainable behavior can transfer to other aspects of living as well, like doing your laundry. Interested in learning how you can make doing your laundry more sustainable? Here are some quick tips:
- Remove dryer lint: This is the easiest way to make your dryer loads go further, just simply remove the lint from the trap. Lint can cause poor dryer performance, which means you may have to dry for longer. This can take up more of your time and consume a greater amount of energy.
- Don’t do your laundry as much: Most people think that if you wear it once, you have to wash it. That’s not always the case, as the likes of jeans, sweaters and pajamas can go several wears between washes. Following these wash guidelines will mean fewer loads of laundry, meaning you’ll be using less water and heat.
- Hang dry: Dryers emit a lot of carbon dioxide, so if you can, consider hang drying your items. This might be tough to do at the laundromat, but setting up a clothesline or putting clothing racks in your home is a good start.
- Use cold water: Hot water requires the use of a heater to warm it. Cold water does not. Hence, if you’re using just cold water when you’re doing your laundry, you’re eliminating the energy required to heat the water.
- Use concentrated detergent: Concentrated detergent won’t just last longer than other types, but it comes in a smaller package as well. That means less resources are used throughout the supply chain to transport the product.
- Head to the laundromat: If you’re really serious about making laundry more sustainable, then we suggest heading to the laundromat to do it. Most laundromats have invested in high efficiency washers and dryers, so you’ll be saving energy.