Ontario has taken a great step forward by overriding a ban that prohibits many Ontarioians from hanging their clothes to dry outside. Most new home developments sign a contract with home buyers prohibiting them from hanging their clothes to dry outside on the grounds that it’s visually unappealing. According to the Star article, 20 to 30 percent of the province’s subdivisions have this prohibition.
I can appreciate that hanging clothes outside doesn’t look great (Just go to Hong Kong and look at any apartment building), but I think the environmental impact trumps the aesthetic appeal and I’m fully behind the government’s decision on this. This is another one of those situations where supporters of the ban argue that the value of the home will decrease as a result (The good old Economy vs. Environment argument).
The lift on the ban doesn’t include apartment buildings or condos, which is fine by me because I would hate for apartments in my city to look like the aforementioned Hong Kong apartments. But there are alternative options for condo dwellers:
Hang your clothes to dry indoors. I’ve been doing this for over 5 years now. It’s actually a lot less of an inconvenience than you might first think. You simply do your laundry, hang everything on an indoor rack, then when you get home from work the next day, everything is dry and you can fold it up. It really doesn’t take me much more of my time than it would to use the dryer. If you’re one of those people who needs the dryer because you always wait until you have no clean undergarments left, sometimes it feels good to “let it all out” and go commando once in a while.
Hanging your clothes is one of those things that rubs on the most skeptical of people. My brother Tom was a skeptic several years ago when he first moved in with me, but now he’s regularly hanging his clothes to dry because he realizes that not only is it easy, it also helps your clothes last longer.
With Earth Day approaching on Tuesday April 22nd, I challenge my readers to buy an indoor rack (if you don’t already have one), and try hanging your clothes to dry at least once.
Image courtesy of jupiterimages