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Posts Tagged ‘laundry’

Episode 5!

Posted in tv episodes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 20, 2009| Leave a Comment »

We have a wonderful, shiny new episode for you! It’s summer garden planting time, and that’s just what we do. We’ve learned a lot from last year’s planting and we use that to make this year’s garden even more prolific.

But wait, there’s more! In this episode we have a lively discussion about sustainability and government with Adam Hill, newly elected county supervisor. He’s also a former English professor of mine from Cal Poly, so the conversation is an easy and a fun one to have.

And if you act now we will even throw in a segment about building a clothesline, complete with all of my struggles, mistakes, and brilliant recovery. In the end, it actually works. And five months on we’re still hanging clothes exclusively. FYI, major money savings! Check out the Project Expense Tracker and our Energy Savings Tracker to see how our savings are adding up.

But you must act now! Hurry, my mom is standing by to hear your opinions of our latest endeavor!

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The clothesline saga continues…

Posted in sustainability, tagged , , , , , , , on March 18, 2009| 4 Comments »

First, can someone please tell me why I decided not to get a dryer in the middle of the rainy season? Still, I have managed to hold my laundromat trips to a minimum; two precisely. And that was to dry the thicker towels and blankets. I do believe that in the nearly 2 months I have not had a dryer, that is pretty good, don’t you think?

The clothesline Samson and Jeanne made works wonderfully.

Mostly.

We are still working out a few kinks, but in the end I will have the coolest line on the block! Then everyone will be jealous. Kind of like an episode of “Desperate Housewives,” without all the makeup, drama, or women.

The secret? It is really all about time management.

I put the clothes on the line during the sunniest part of the day; for us that is mid-morning to mid-afternoon, after the fog has burned off and before it rolls back in. I leave around 8am to take Logan to school, so I throw a load in the wash before I go and then by the time I get home the clothes can go on the line to dry.

I also have found that one load a day is the best answer. I have never been a “separator.” All my clothes are washed together in warm/cold with a gentle, environmentally friendly detergent and rinsed with a little bit of white vinegar (LOVE that stuff!), so having one load a day is really no problem. Oh, and as for whites, the sun is amazing for making the whites white.

The only problem is if I am not home to do the one load a day, it backs up on me and I am back to stringing up another clothesline on the back porch. That’s when I miss the dryer. I suppose I could just have Samson stand in the laundry room and breathe hot air over them…LOL!

Now I am off to hang some clothes….no really!

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Controlling the finances

Posted in site updates, tagged , , , , , on February 15, 2009| Leave a Comment »

I had an astute friend ask me to track expenses on the projects we’re doing. With the economy at the forefront of everyone’s minds, I think that’s a great idea. We can demonstrate in very real terms how much it costs (or saves!) to do the sustainable thing.

I’ve placed the tracker on the TV Episodes page. It’s pretty rough right now, but I’ll refine it as time goes on. One of the things I can already think of is how to demonstrate savings as well. For instance, we haven’t used our electric dryer for three weeks. I’m sure that’s saved us some substantial pocket change.

Let me know if you can think of anything else we should be tracking—financially or otherwise.

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The Clothesline Project…Revisted

Posted in community, diy, tagged , , , , on January 22, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Last week the heating element on my dryer went out.  No big deal, I prefer to line dry the clothes anyway. One problem:

I don’t have a line.

I have been hanging my clothes in the laundry room and out on the back porch, but I need a designated line now that I have all the laundry to line dry .

My current "clothesline"

I told Samson I wanted a line over 2 years ago, now it is either spend $400 on a new dryer or get a line put up ASAP. Expect an episode on creating your own clothesline……lol!

Does anyone else line dry? Have any suggestions for Samson before he launches into another project?

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