A Greener Wash

by Andrea Millar — April 25, 2008

When I think of laundry, I think about all the stereotypes of the lazy American. It's almost as easy as falling off a log, and yet we put it off for as long as possible. Everyone knows someone (or maybe you are that someone) who's willing to go commando rather than wash their clothes. After all, it is pretty excruciating work to throw your clothes in a metal hole, toss some soap in, and turn a knob...and then you have to go back and toss them in another metal hole right next door, later! Grueling. When we do laundry, we may be so eager to get it over with that we forget the grand opportunity it offers to green our lifestyle a little bit. You may want to try out a few really easy ways to file away at that footprint of yours with greener laundry practices:

• Use cold water. While you may have some garments that absolutely need hot water, most fabrics do fine in cold water. In fact, hot water actually sets stains and shrinks things like wool. Save on some of the electricity involved in the wash cycle by ditching the hot.
• Use powdered detergent to save water. As reported on The Green Guide, when you buy a liquid detergent, a large portion of what you buy is water, which has in turn been processed and transported to you. Expensive and eco-mean, eh? But you can eliminate this by buying powdered detergents, often at 2-3 times the strength of liquids. The Guide also recommends watching for soaps that list all their ingredients, along with any that list what chemicals aren't included in the production (like NPEs or chlorine).
• Dry on the line. OK, so this detracts somewhat from that falling-off-a-log sensation. But you could save a lot of energy by using a line on sunny days, with the added bonus of having clothes that are truly springtime fresh. You don't have to buy that smell in a bottle when it's in your backyard.
• Use a natural stain remover. Sometimes adding bleach to clothes actually makes them drab. A great natural alternative that avoids the environmental impacts of bleach is hydrogen peroxide. A half cup added to any load of whites gets your whites whiter and doesn't kill nearly as many fish. It also works great as a pre-treat, although you might want to let it soak overnight.