It seems absurb that people have to organize for their right to hang clothes on a line in their own yard, but that's the way it is in many North American communities. I remember I was astounded the first time I heard of clotheslines being outlawed, this was in about 1991 in the continent's first planned community, Columbia, Maryland.Hanging your wash outside is basically free. The clothes smell great afterwards. It's environmentally sound. For many of us hanging clothes on a line brings back memories of our mothers and grandmothers doing the same thing.
Ban the clothesline? That's crazy-talk, man!
Read more here: "Is your clothesline illegal?" (LA Times)
..of course, as I was expressing my outrage in this post, Wendy was downstairs drying 7 loads of laundry in a dryer.
ReplyDeleteyo yo..but we live in an apt bldg so we can't hang it all out..but we would if we could!
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Wendy, what about all those photos of women and retrievable clothes lines on little trolleys that stretch across buildings in New York or somewhere...
ReplyDeleteAaron, I did a whole photo thing of clothes lines in Belize, picture after picture. It seems so quaint...
That is akin to reading things about wind turbines being ugly and noisy and littering up the water front. Hello, wind is out there and can be harnessed! Shouldn't we? We have to do something? I wrote a letter to the editor of Metro last week (published Wednesday) about this. Because it kills me when people say wind turbines are ugly, or laundry hanging out! When I see laundry out, I see people doing something. Some little thing. I used my laundry dryer thing (the one that looks like an old fashioned TV antenna) all summer and fall and will again! Handily, it's about 5 feet and a fence away from my neighbour's. So they can look like eyesores together!
ReplyDeleteI love my laundry line - I use it Spring, Summer, and Fall!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite things is crawling into bed on sheets washing-day in the summer! The feeling of the crisp sheets, the fresh "outdoorsy" smell - It's a little slice of heaven!
When I heard that they were changing the law in Toronto I couldn't believe it..... I never knew that it was prohibited in the first place!
I'm on record repeatedly over on my blog as a HUGE clothesline fan ... it is the ONE big thing I miss in my new house, but it will be the ONE new thing I install if spring ever arrives ...
ReplyDeleteThe very act of hanging laundry is meditative and relaxing ... the savings of energy, and the benefit of fresh smelling clothes, towels, sheets and other assundry is wonderful ... I marvel at the short-sightedness of our culture ... then again, I marvel (not in a good way) at the collective stupidity that has taken hold in many corners of our world - I guess clotheslines shouldn't be immune ...
This is one of those moments where Civil Disobedience is called for !!
Jumping on the bandwagon a bit late, but wanted to comment.
ReplyDeleteMy parents have never had a dryer, the entire time they have been living in Scarborough (=31 years). One thing I miss now that I live on my own is air-dried bed linens. I guess the use of clothing lines in Scarberia was never an issue vs. the rest of T.O.
Wendy... Even if you don't have a clothes line a clothes drying rack will allow you to dry your clothes save money and reduce your carbon foot print.
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