So Fresh and So Clean Clean.

Laundry is one of my favorite chores to do. Weird? Maybe. Here are six tips to make laundry day a tad more eco-friendly.

1. Line dry | I stopped doing this for a while, because, well I am lazy and we had free laundry. I am so happy I've started this again in the recent months. It takes very little effort and makes me so very happy. For more on how I line dry inside check out this post.

2. Soap nuts | OH EM GEE. Get some of these and get them NOW. I am amazed that something this natural could actually work, but, they so DO. Soap nuts grow on trees and you toss them in your laundry in a little linen bag. After a few loads of laundry, the soap nuts break down and you can compost them. How awesome is that? Check out their website for more info!

3. Dry cleaning shmy cleaning | I wash EVERYTHING in the washer - including my wool winter coat, dress pants, and bras. As long as I use cold water and line dry, it works great! Wool is a natural fiber, so it can be wet. Dry cleaning processes use TONS of nasty chemicals, anyway. Yuck.

4. Wash full loads | If you wash smaller loads, you waste water. And we don't like wasting water.

5. Don't wash clothes unless they're dirty | Wear your clothes as many times as you can before you throw them in the washer. Simple, right?

6. Wash with cold water | Most clothes can be washed in cold water, which uses way less energy.

The best part about all of these? They'll save you money, as well!

Remember the One Where Rachel Was Laundry Virgin?

Let’s talk for a moment about laundry. I’ve already told you that I’m cheap and lazy.

But! I do spend a little more money on detergent because, like, did you know how nasty the chemicals are in regular detergent?

At my job, I’ve recently been learning about water pollutants with the middle schoolers (taught by the local college students). When they mentioned laundry detergent causes a main source of phosphates in the river, I was shocked. Too much phosphate means plants and creatures in the river are killed, and biodiversity affects everyone. (I know it’s hard to really care about river health when you can’t imagine how it could ever affect you.) Anywho, it shocked me that something so very common could be polluting the water. Shouldn’t there be more of an effort to encourage the public to NOT use the synthetic chemically laden laundry detergents?

Besides keeping chemicals out of the water stream, we’re also consuming less petroleum. Most laundry detergents are petroleum based, so using vegetable based saves tons of oil (Whhhhy didn’t anyone tell me these things?). As a bonus, our detergent is fragrance, chlorine, and dye-free, so it will never irritate our skin, is gentler for our clothes, and the planet. ☺ That’s a pretty great deal for a little more change. (As an added measure, we also get powder instead of liquid detergent to avoid non-biodegradable and possibly non-recyclable plastic.)

PS: I think I (might) overuse (parentheses). Maybe I should, use commas for the (clauses) and asides; more often. ☺

An Excuse for Laziness

this shirt is dry clean only. which means it's dirty. - mitch hedberg

I’m dirty for the sake of our planet.

No really! I only shower a few times a week and I wear my jeans for a week or two. (I’m lucky; my hair doesn’t get greasy for a very long time.) Less showering means less water is used. Wearing jeans and sweaters until they’re visibly (or olfactory-ly) dirty means less water is used (and they get less worn out, so I have to replace them less!) Plus, we have to do less laundry (and we PAY for our laundry, so we save money!) We also use our towels forever before we throw them in the wash.

It’s simple, it saves us time and money, and it furthers our cause for laziness. Score.