Published: September 30, 2009 08:43 am      

RANDOM THOUGHTS: The clothesline has many benefits

I saw God wash the world last night

With his sweet showers on high,

And then, when morning came, I saw

Him hang it out to dry.

—William L. Stidger

Just when someone decided clotheslines gave a community the look of a tenement or ghetto I don’t know. For generations backyard clotheslines were necessary to dry clothes. As community and homeowners associations grew, today there are over 300,000, they introduced rules prohibiting such “unsightly, lower class conveniences.” Few homeowners complained because most had dryers beside their washing machines.

There were a few voices of protest but they were ignored. One who refused to give up was the proprietor of the Vermont Country Store, Lyman Orton. He began working for a Right to Dry law. It took many years of speaking at community meetings and to state legislators but in May the law in Vermont was passed guaranteeing each homeowner a choice. Lyman said, “Banning clotheslines was one more way to elevate their status and chase exclusivity — not something Vermonters aspire to.”

Those words could be the answer to another argument against clothesline. There are those who say clotheslines will bring down property values but is status and exclusivity the hidden agenda?

In the spirit of being a good neighbor it is important to think carefully about where to locate your clothesline. Consider the neighbor’s view as well as your own.

Over the years there have been some silly laws regarding clotheslines. Both New York and Alabama passed a law which stated a license must be purchased before hanging clothes on a clothesline. In Cape Coral, Florida the law said, “It is against city ordinance to hang your clothes outside on a clothesline.” In Colorado Governor Bill Ritter’s wife challenged the law against clotheslines and installed a clothesline on the balcony of the governor’s mansion. Eventually the law which prohibited clotheslines was changed to read “property owned by resident is not limited to common elements of the community.”

They made the law apply only to retractable clotheslines.

And then along came the energy crises giving the growing numbers of right to dry proponents their best arguments. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers found there were 88 million electric dryers in the U.S. in 1995. That accounted for 1,079 kilowatt hours of energy per household each year and the emission of 2,224 pounds of carbon dioxide. The cost of that energy for most households was $100 annually. Clotheslines look better and better.

Another New England state, New Hampshire, began Project Laundry List. This environmental activist group is working for legislation to override the prohibitions against clotheslines. They believe each household should be free to decide how to dry their clothes. Believers in North Carolina have joined the movement and are testing the community association’s rules.

There are other benefits to this energy conserving project. If you have never hung clothes outside you may not be aware of the human energy it takes. In today’s world where shedding pounds is promoted this activity is a great help. Another benefit is the smell and feel of clothes dried by the sun and air.