Waste Diversion tips - Recycle, Reuse, Compost etc

In retirement I have been drying some of our laundry on a dryer rack. It saves energy and adds a bit of much needed humidity to our dry air (and now that the dryer has gotten clunky I do use the rack even more). LOL - That has made me less eager on the cloth napkin conversion (they take a lot of space on the rack), especially since it’s a hard-sell for husband. But I’m still trying it out with our few cloth napkins. Just not totally converted… deferring purchase of new ones. Still each little bit helps.

I don’t have a clothes line, but use both a drying rack and hang clothes to dry in the spare bathroom which has a skylight so things dry quickly. Sheets, towels, cloth napkins, socks and H’s underwear are about all that I use the dryer for.

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Oh, I totally DON’T hang my clothes outside! I will hang some stuff in the laundry area like workout wear that I prefer not to dry but that is not for ecological purposes!

Cloth napkins definitely in the dryer. I’m not ironing!

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I was on a saving money/being environmentally friendly kick when my kids were toddlers. For a few weeks, I dried all our clothes on the line outside. That stopped the day I put on my jeans and a bee had hitched a ride & was tucked under the inside seam on the upper thigh. :persevere:

I am pretty much resolved to never line dry my clothes outside again.

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We use Charlie’s soap powder. It does come in a plastic bag, but it lasts a long time and our clothes get clean and soft. Less waste than the plastic jugs I used to use. I have used Earth Breeze or Tru Earth and thought they were okay, too.

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I can’t dry my clothes outside (too many allergies). But as mentioned upthread, I use powder detergent bought in a cardboard box. Tide, all, seventh generation – they all still make powders and it works fine. If the store doesn’t have it, Amazon does. cardboard box goes in the recycling. Even plastic that is reused eventually is garbage, and we are intent on de-plasticking our household.

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I hang anything I don’t want the dryer to shrink up/tighten from the ribs of our courtyard umbrella. Twenty minutes in the AZ sun will bone dry anything. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work in Maine. Everything in the dryer there. I don’t have any racks in either place. Cloth napkins get spread out on countertops or patio table until dry.

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LOL - Back in NY we’d sometimes have to worry that clothes would mildew before they dried. The dry air in CO has pros/cons, but I do like the way clothes (and my hair) dry quickly.

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We always are reminding people at camp that you can hang something up, but that may not make it dry anytime soon. A rainy August in Maine is fearsome for a house full of towels and bathing suits! My mom has lobbied loud and long for a dryer but alas, is still losing against a Yankee who says we’re a bunch of babies . Good times :slight_smile:

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