Chelsea Hodge: If 95 percent of Italians, some of earth's most fashion-conscious inhabitants, don't own a dryer, then why are Americans so adamant about tumble drying their clothes? The tumble dryer is the second largest energy-consuming appliance and the leading cause of house fires among appliances. There is no such sense as an Energy Star dryer; these machines are inherently inefficient, using natural gas or electricity to heat air. ... Alexander P. Lee is executive director of Project Laundry List: In Italy, only about three or four percent of households own a dryer. In Denmark, newly constructed student housing included space for indoor drying. In China, the bamboo shaft is still a ubiquitous clothesline. In the United States, approximately 80 percent of households own a dryer. Project Laundry List believes, from anecdotal evidence, that the vast majority of families can see a 10 to 20 percent savings on their electric bill by going cold turkey and setting up a clothesline or drying rack. ...
The tumble dryer is the second largest energy-consuming appliance and the leading cause of house fires among appliances. There is no such sense as an Energy Star dryer; these machines are inherently inefficient, using natural gas or electricity to heat air. ...
Alexander P. Lee is executive director of Project Laundry List: In Italy, only about three or four percent of households own a dryer. In Denmark, newly constructed student housing included space for indoor drying. In China, the bamboo shaft is still a ubiquitous clothesline. In the United States, approximately 80 percent of households own a dryer. Project Laundry List believes, from anecdotal evidence, that the vast majority of families can see a 10 to 20 percent savings on their electric bill by going cold turkey and setting up a clothesline or drying rack. ...
I have become a fan of hang-drying laundry since moving to Tokyo seven years ago and now China for two years. A friend in the U.S. suggests that this infatuation will end as soon as I have toddlers (apparently these generate an amount of laundry totally out of proportion with their small body sizes). La Chine dorme. Laisse la dormir. Quand la Chine s'éveillera, le monde tremblera.
A friend in the U.S. suggests that this infatuation will end as soon as I have toddlers
Strangely, people living outside the US also have children.
And they prefer hang-drying their laundry because they enjoy the freshness of sun-dried clothes and the thrill of being environmentally correct more than the convenience and speed of dryers, right? La Chine dorme. Laisse la dormir. Quand la Chine s'éveillera, le monde tremblera.
Oh, how I wish!
I gotta move to Spain.
A friend in the U.S. suggests that this infatuation will end as soon as I have toddlers.
A typical reaction from an American incapable of considering a different lifestyle, even such a small change.
I have had two toddlers. They indeed generate an impressive amount of laundry. however I don't see why it implies to use a dryer. Letting the laundry dry on a clothesline works fine. "Ce qui vient au monde pour ne rien troubler ne mérite ni égards ni patience." René Char
We used the dryer pretty much all the time the first year, half the time the second year; now, we hardly ever use it: only when we need something dried now and that's not everyday.
Oh, and electricity is cheaper in France than in California (this damn cheap power from EDF).
So yes, I fully concur: it's the lifestyle, and it's not so difficult to change it :-) Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
So yes, I fully concur: it's the lifestyle, and it's not so difficult to change it :-)
This is very interesting. The article indicated that electricity is more expensive in Italy and Denmark due to green taxes, and I thought that this was a major factor in deterring people in those countries from using dryers. But if electricity is cheaper in France than in the U.S., then it does raise the question as to why French (presumably) use dryers much less than Americans. (My mother, who lived in the U.S. for 25 years and used the dryer profusely there, moved back to Paris in 2005 and is forced to hang dry her clothes because there is no space for a dryer in her apartment.) La Chine dorme. Laisse la dormir. Quand la Chine s'éveillera, le monde tremblera.
As for me, I live in a house and the washer + dryer are in the garage, so no space issue there. I guess we've just come to consider using the dryer as a waste, since we can wait a half-day for the laundry to dry "naturally"...
Your friend who moved to the US seems to have gone the other (lifestyle) way. So did we when we were living there; I guess the notions of waste and time are different on both continents. Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
Not quite: He is a European, but has been living in the U.S. since he went there for grad school. La Chine dorme. Laisse la dormir. Quand la Chine s'éveillera, le monde tremblera.
