Clothesline controversy? Huh?
There was an article on Shelterpop last week about the controversy surrounding clotheslines in suburbia. Huh?
In what universe can this be an eyesore,
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| Heidi Zech Photography |
however this isn't?
I fear for this country, I really do. The Shelterpop article mentioned a piece from the New York Times that dug into the matter in more detail . Apparently, 60 million people in the US live in 300,000 private communities. In most of them, hanging out laundry is forbidden. I cannot imagine ever living in one of those places, but plenty of people do. No clotheslines is but one of what are no doubt hundreds of Gladys Kravitz-isms written into the the community agreements that bind these places together.
I grew up wearing clothes that were line dried. I hang my stuff out now because I like how sun-dried laundry smells. More than how it smells, I like how it feels. There's something about stiff jeans and undies that makes me think my clothes are really clean.
When I changed into a child, there was a madwoman who lived round the corner. She lived to terrorize us kids however she liked my mother. She liked my mom a wonderful deal. Her reason for this surprising affection? My mom "spent time a nice wash."
I wonder if suburbanites would get along better if they were allowed to have clotheslines. Of course, what drives all of this is that graven image, resale value. Around six percent of all residential electricity use goes to power clothes dryers. If even some small portion of that were conserved by hanging out some laundry some times, the savings could be significant.
Besides, isn't nice to be a human being from time to time? Even in a gated community?
Well have no fear because there's a fledgling "right to dry" movement in the US. How American is this by the way? One side bans clotheslines and the opposition declares a right to a clothesline. Anyhow, this right to dry movement has spawned a documentary film called Drying for Freedom. Here's the trailer:
Well that appears a chunk extreme, but no extra excessive than the absurd concept that it is in opposition to the regulations to have a clothesline. What do you guys think? Would your as an alternative die than line dry? Would you guy the barricades to guard your right to hold your garments within the sun? What do you think of this clothesline controversy?