The Right to Dry!
I mentioned before that this summer A~ and I added a clothesline to our backyard. We love it! I honestly have to say I don't completely understand it, as it makes very little sense, but we do. You would think that having to carry our clothes downstairs and take the time to hang them would wear out it's novelty pretty soon, but it hasn't. I have heard from a lot of people that I've talked to that they would love to have a clothesline too, but their HOA won't allow it. First of all, I don't have an HOA. If there had been one, I wouldn't have moved here. They're just un American in my view.
Well I believe we have a right to dry. A right to opt out of the normal way things are done. To take a bit of time in our day to save some energy, while not heating up our homes! And apparently someone else does too. Project Laundry List is a 501(c)(3) that is working to advocate laws in different states to guarantee people their "Right to Dry" As I looked through the site, I was a little surprised to find that one of the three States that they site as role models for this type of legislation was right here in Utah! Can you believe it? And California is one of the worst offenders. What's up with that?
Check the Project Laundry site out and see if there's anything you can do to push this in your state. It's something simple that we can all do to some degree. And if your in Utah and get told that you're not allowed to have a clothesline, or any other solar power / collection apparatus, just send 'em HERE and tell em where to go!
P~
Labels:
Alternative energy,
green living,
laundry
9 comments:
Not allowed to put up a clothesline?? I nearly fell of my chair when I learned about that! I live in Denmark and I've never heard about that sort of thing around here, but then again, I never looked for it ;-) I've put up a 260 gallon rainwater tank, guess that's even worse, but I need the water for the garden.
"[HOAs are] just un American in my view."
I hate them too. I will never buy a property with any kind of covenant or HOA. But to me, they seem like the epitome of America. We can do anything we want, including adding weird restrictions to our neighborhoods!
And it segregates people nicely. I wouldn't want to live next to HOA-people, and I'm sure they wouldn't want to live next to me.
Sadly, I live in the crazy city that was in the Wall Street Journal due to a homeowners battle of clothes lines.
Oh the shame. :(
And moving is not an option. I just avoid the "westside" as much as possible.
This post is amazing! I've been preoccupied lately worrying about my fourth amendment rights, and lurking Gov'mnt spies listening to my cell phone, that I've missed the laws about hanging laundry out to dry!
Seriously, we should fight to keep our right to dry. I had a recent related experience that provoked this post:http://growthis.blogspot.com/2008/07/ethnography-of-laundromat.html in the middle of my gardening blog
That is so wrong some people can't "air out their laundry" so to speak! I never really thought about that but some people are just ignorant I guess and so they take time making up stupid laws for homeowners. I have been wondering about line drying indoors the rest of the year too but I don't have space really and wonder how I would work it exactly. I have set up a drying rack in the family room but would need another one plus maybe a line in the bathroom or something I don't know. I have seen the Amish have something to do that indoors with but I don't know of the price. I think it was on Lehman's.
1 I'm adding a link to your blog to mine!
2 Sing it, brother! I hate HOAs! Unfortunately, due to my finances--ie, what I could afford--I am stuck in a neighborhood with an HOA; however, mine is very hands-off, and we line dry anyway.
I would love to see a large, strong movement put in place to eliminate them.
~The Hippie
Great post! HOA or not, people can still line dry, inside. I dont have a yard so I dry my laundry on a drying rack inside my home.
I love your blog, keep up the good work!
Thanks all of you for the kind words about the blog. It seems I've struck quite a chore with the HOA mention. I have to agree though, they are the bane of the real estate world. I hope you'll all keep stopping by, and thanks again for the support.
P~
I've been reading about this issue for a while. Honestly, when you dig a tiny bit, you will find that this is a classist and even racist holdover from the old days. It used to be that only immigrants and folks in poor neighbourhoods hung their laundry. Rich people can afford dryers. My guess is that HOA ban clotheslines because they look "bad" - read: they make us look like a poor, immigrant, neighbourhood.
People should really stop and examine WHY they feel the need to put regs on line drying. I don't think they'll like what they see...
(and yes, it is addictive, isn't it?)
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