Green Challenge #3: Say, why don't you do something useful with all this heat?

So, let's totally beat the dead horse and talk about how hot it is.

Holy cow, it's hot! And it appears as though it might be this hot for, oh, the rest of the summer. Mmm hmm. So, Greenologists. What're you gonna do with this heat? How will you harness all this free energy that's hanging around, making things generally gross and sweaty? Want a suggestion? Of course you do. That's why you're reading this. Here's one: Why don't you wash all those sweaty clothes, and then dry 'em. For free. No, we're not talking about jerry-rigging the dryers at the laundromat. Remember line drying? It's back, and it isn't better than ever, but it's still pretty good.

Why should you want to spend the extra effort line drying your shiz (other than the fact that it saves energy/fuel and is gentler on your clothes)? We crunched some numbers in order to increase the allure of hanging your unmentionables in the warm breeze. Here we go:

So. According to, like, every energy use source out there (we'll throw you this one in the interest of journalistic integrity, mostly because this guy's hair is awesome), clothes dryers account for around 12% of the average American family's household energy use. The average American family does approximately 400 loads of laundry per year at $0.15 per kWh, which averages out to around $156 in household energy costs per year, once you factor in the difference between gas and electric power/average drying times/yada yada. If your average American family is relegated to paying the ol' landlord/laundromat for your clean threads (like us), that expenditure rockets up to around $900 per year, at around $2.25 per load. NINE HUNDRED DOLLARS. That's three tickets to Guatemala, folks. Or a crazy-awesome new bike. Or a really nice charitable donation to a non-profit in need. It's a lot of money, OK? A lot of money, of which you could be saving 100% by simply stringing up your goods.

Don't have the time, you say? Let us point out that research (i.e.: our laundry day) shows it takes an average of four minutes to hang a load. It also only takes an extra forty-five minutes for our stuff to dry on the line versus in the dryer. Don't have the space, you say? Let us also point out that we live in an approximately 450 sq. ft. apartment, and we manage just fine. But, we know it's not easy to make the adjustment. That's why we're going to point you to TipThePlanet, and their sort of insanely comprehensive review of every imaginable drying rack -- indoor and outdoor -- in existence, so you can MacGyver your way into energy savings. We're also going to point out that you can buy whatever you may require to transition into clothesline country at these independently-owned businesses:

Back Bay Hardware
233 Newbury St., Boston
(617) 536-0193

Charles Street Supply
54-56 Charles St., Boston
(617) 367-9046

TAGS Hardware
Porter Shopping Exchange, Somerville
(617) 868-7711

Pills Hardware
743 Massachusetts Ave, Central Square, Cambridge
(617) 876-8310

As per usual, we are offering a reward for participating in this little challenge. Send us photos of your clothes on the line, post a comment here telling us how you line dry, tweet us about it at @gogreenologist, or post about it on our Facebook page, and you'll be entered to win some incredible-smelling, all-natural, totally biodegradable, super-concentrated Zum Clean lavender laundry soap. Huzzah! 


So harness that heat, Greenologists! And remember: Clothespins are not for clipping to your roommate/partner while they're sleeping. Seriously.

spring cleaning, zero waste. sneeze count: 7

Heyo! So, here we are, getting ready to launch our new website, putting all the final pieces together so we can bring even more people in the Boston area local food, and we're STILL up to our elbows in all of this junk. Still. We can start a new business, we can build relationships with farms from all over New England, we can get people excited about a new opportunity to live locally, but we can't keep our teeny tiny apartment reasonably clean and organized. Our mothers are so disappointed in us.

But wait! We are making progress. We've found a slew of terrific and sustainable ways to get rid of our clothing (check back for that post tomorrow), our pals over at YCB are working on that whole CD repurposing extravaganza, aaaand... We have a solution for all those wire clothes hangers that were taking up more space in our closets than actual clothes. Hooray! High fives all around.

As it turns out, wire hangers are a bigger boon to our environment than we ever thought possible. According to NBC News, 3.5 billion wire hangers are sent to the landfill EVERY YEAR. Say what? 3.5 billion? Ah, yup. Absurd. Luckily, recycling these things is pretty easy and doesn't require any more effort than you'd already be making. Wanna know what we mean? Read on, fellow Greenologist!

Our first plan of action was to call our dry cleaners and ask their advice. They are, after all, in the business of hanging clothes on wire clothes hangers. Well. Partly, anyway. We use Clevergreen Cleaners, not only because the solvents they use to clean are biodegradable, but because they use less water in the cleaning process AND they design their work spaces to be as energy efficient as possible. Awesome. Anyway, we called these folks up. We said, "Hey, Clevergreen Cleaners, what should we do with all of these wire hangers?" And they said, "Hey, Greenologist lady, why don't you just bring them back to us?" And we said, "Oh. That's really easy. 'Cause we'll be over there to drop stuff off again soon anyway." And they said, "Yup." BAM. Problem solved.

So here's the deal. Just bring the hangers back to your cleaners. Recycling them the conventional way (in that blue bucket on your sidewalk) might work. But it might not. Not all cities will recycle those hangers, and by bringing them back to the cleaners, you're keeping more NEW hangers from having to be made, which keeps manufacturing and shipping waste down, too. Which is kind of the point.

This whole thing took five minutes for us to resolve. If everyone took two minutes to just throw their hangers into their dry cleaning bags with their clothes on the way out the door, we could keep 3.5 billion pieces of metal out of landfills. Seven minutes for a cleaner, greener planet? Yes, please.

Also, if you aren't already using Clevergreen, you probably should. Our clothes smell WAY better than they did after hanging out at those other places, AND they're holding their color and shape longer. They're not giving us anything to say that, by the way. It's just the truth.