Day 13: Laundry Day

So, it's that time when I start running out of socks... which is a clear indicator that I must do laundry!

After a bit of research, I found a few tips on things that I can do to make my clothes clean without dirtying the environment too much.

-wash cold. Most of th energy consumed from doing laundry is from using hot water, so use cold water (or warm if absolutely necessary).
-wash full loads to make best use of the energy required to run the machine. If you have to do a smaller load, adjust the water level accordingly
-if possible, use a front-loading washer
-sort items by colour, weight and how dirty they are so you can adjust the cycles accordingly
-if you are a real grown-up (unlike me, the perpetual student) and you need to buy your own washer, go for a front loading Energy-star rated model. They not only use less energy, but also less water ( as little as 5 gallons compared to 18 to 25 for a top-loader). Some of my sources say that they will even extract more water from your clothes to make for faster drying times.

As for detergents, you can make your laundry routine more environmentally friendly by using detergents, softeners and stain removers that as phosphate-, petroleum-, and chlorine free (and only use as much you need!)

I haven't missed the importance of drying your clothes, but I will talk about it tomorrow (I still need 352 ideas this year!).

Does anyone else have any other suggestions that I can incorporate to make my laundry routine more environmentally friendly?

Happy Thursday - hang in there, it's almost the weekend!