Save the Clotheslines!

Not much gives me more moderate grade pleasure than hanging my laundry out in the fresh breeze and sunshine. I enjoy the doing of it, I enjoy knowing my clothes will smell fresh and clean, I enjoy knowing that I myself haven't used a tumble dryer in well over a year, knowing that a tumble dryer can account for upwards of 10% or more of household electricity usage and it's attendant carbon emissions. Among my friends I've been advocating for the abolition of tumble dryers for some time now but it seems there are still communities that remain in the stone/dirty coal age when it comes to drying clothes. Indeed, it is still ILLEGAL! to use a clothesline in some places.

This has prompted some states to ban the ban, as reported over at Care2 Causes by Beth B.

"You are officially invited to join the fight to legalize it...again. No, we're not talking about the smokable plant that's gotten so many politicians in hot water. We're talking about the good old fashioned clothes line.

As families all over the nation seek out different ways to reduce their carbon footprint and save money by using less energy, many have decided to return to hanging their clothes outside to dry them. However, many have met with great disappointment when homeowner's associations and community management services have told them the lines are not allowed.

Treehugger.com reports that, "hanging clotheslines was against the rules in so many communities nationwide that state governments are being forced to step in and make it against the law to ban them. And states like Vermont and Utah have already succeeded. But the fight for the right to hang clotheslines is just getting started."