The "Right to Dry"
The weather here in central PA is finally getting warm and I find myself thinking about clotheslines. I want one. I know that the electric dryer is a massive energy suck and sometimes I have to run a load through twice to get it dry. I love line-dried clothes. It gets me outside in the sun, it saves energy. I don't like that the neighbors can see my stuff flapping in the breeze, but I can get over it. Around here, there are clotheslines all over the place because the Amish and Mennonites hang out clothes all year long. My development is new though and I wonder if lines are allowed even though I can see my neighbors two houses down have a line and another neighbor across the street does too.
I'm looking out the window at my yard and wondering where I can put a line. My preference is for the kind that is attached to the house and goes out to a tall pole in the yard and uses a pulley. That way the clothes are high off the ground and out of the immediate line of sight. I'll probably end up with two short t-shaped poles with five short lines strung between them so I'll have to walk around with a basket of wet clothes to hang them.
I guess we could get the umbrella type clothesline thingees that only require one hole to be dug and sunk but those are really ugly and kinda suck because you don't get as much airflow.
So now the big question is placement, depending on whether or not the landlord says we can install one. My yard backs up to a busy-ish road and everything is all kinds of open. Do I run it along the side of the house? At the back of the yard? Parallel to the house or perpendicular?
I think I may take pictures outside and see if anyone has suggestions for me...
So I was googling clotheslines looking for options and apparently the "Right to Dry" is a big issue. I thought that there would be more of a move toward line drying with an increased effort by people to reduce their carbon footprint and stuff and to go green. Apparently, homeowners associations in CALIFORNIA (!!!!), New Hampshire, New York and Connecticut are really opposed to clotheslines because they make the neighborhood "look like a tenement" and bring down property values.
I say, "huh?"
Yeah, it's old school and all but it's such an awesome thing to use the breeze and sun to dry clothes and use absolutely no electricity. I don't really care about seeing the neighbors' jeans and shirts drying outside. I don't like having the poles and stuff taking up space but I think it's a small "price" to pay, you know? Project Laundry List, which keeps track of neighborhoods where outdoor drying is banned, has found no-clothesline zones across the country, usually in subdivisions or condominium complexes. A handful of towns throughout the country also prohibit outdoor drying within their borders.
I've seen a Martha Stewart designed clothesline that doubles as a place to hang a hammock and I really like the idea of that. I pulled it out of an old issue of Living and kept it in a folder for a later point. Think I need to dig that up now.
I'm looking out the window at my yard and wondering where I can put a line. My preference is for the kind that is attached to the house and goes out to a tall pole in the yard and uses a pulley. That way the clothes are high off the ground and out of the immediate line of sight. I'll probably end up with two short t-shaped poles with five short lines strung between them so I'll have to walk around with a basket of wet clothes to hang them.
I guess we could get the umbrella type clothesline thingees that only require one hole to be dug and sunk but those are really ugly and kinda suck because you don't get as much airflow.
So now the big question is placement, depending on whether or not the landlord says we can install one. My yard backs up to a busy-ish road and everything is all kinds of open. Do I run it along the side of the house? At the back of the yard? Parallel to the house or perpendicular?
I think I may take pictures outside and see if anyone has suggestions for me...
So I was googling clotheslines looking for options and apparently the "Right to Dry" is a big issue. I thought that there would be more of a move toward line drying with an increased effort by people to reduce their carbon footprint and stuff and to go green. Apparently, homeowners associations in CALIFORNIA (!!!!), New Hampshire, New York and Connecticut are really opposed to clotheslines because they make the neighborhood "look like a tenement" and bring down property values.
I say, "huh?"
Yeah, it's old school and all but it's such an awesome thing to use the breeze and sun to dry clothes and use absolutely no electricity. I don't really care about seeing the neighbors' jeans and shirts drying outside. I don't like having the poles and stuff taking up space but I think it's a small "price" to pay, you know? Project Laundry List, which keeps track of neighborhoods where outdoor drying is banned, has found no-clothesline zones across the country, usually in subdivisions or condominium complexes. A handful of towns throughout the country also prohibit outdoor drying within their borders.
I've seen a Martha Stewart designed clothesline that doubles as a place to hang a hammock and I really like the idea of that. I pulled it out of an old issue of Living and kept it in a folder for a later point. Think I need to dig that up now.