Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Part 2: Seventh Generation Project Laundry Line, 30 Days and GIVEAWAY

As you know from my previous post and vlog, we accepted the 30 day challenge to use Seventh Generation's Natural 2X Concentrated Laundry Liquid and line dry our clothes. What a challenge it has been, indeed! While washing on cold and using their laundry liquid were easy, we'd already made the switch to cold, planning for the time to air dry them wasn't. It continued to be a challenge the whole time. We never did find a way around it. Find out more about how it went, by clicking on the video below.

So while we won't be line drying our clothes full time, we have decided we'd like to begin incorporating it into our routine. I think even a small change, like line drying every third load, will help a lot. I just don't see how I can pull doing a load every day long term. Now if only I could figure out a way to make the clothes that are line dried a little softer.
Here are some more facts I learned about while participating in the Seventh Generation Project Laundry Line. All are encouraging reasons why we should make line drying a regular part of our laundry routine.
  • 90% of the energy used when washing clothes is used for heating the water.
  • Approximately 23.8 billion pounds of clothing and textiles end up in U.S. landfills each year
  • The average household can save up to $25 per month off electric bill by line drying.
  • Sunlight bleaches and disinfects
  • Approximately one quarter of Americans use an ENERGY STAR washer. There are no ENERGY STAR dryers on the market.
  • Indoor drying racks can humidify in dry winter weather.
  • Seventh Generation 2X Concentrate Liquid Laundry Detergent is specially formulated to remove soil and stains in cold water, and reduces CO2 emissions.
  • Getting out of hot water can save you money—as much as $70/year on your energy bill.
  • Laundry that's cold water washed and line dried lasts longer, helping to protect the environment and your wallet.
  • Cold water washing and line drying helps conserve energy and the environment, while reducing climate change.
  • If Americans air dried their clothing for 10 months out of the year, we could avoid 12 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.
  • If every household in the U.S. replaced just one bottle of 100 ox. 2x ultra petroleum-based liquid laundry detergent with our 100 oz. 2x ultra plant derived product, we could save 466,000 barrels of oil, enough to heat and cool 26,800 U.S. holes for a year.
  • 60 million Americans live in approximately 300,000 community associations. The majority of these restrict or ban the clothesline.
  • You can reduce the full lifecycle climate change impact of your jeans by up to 50 percent by line drying and washing them in cold water.
  • Conventional detergents contain polluting surfactants like alkylphenol ethoxylates, or APEs. Natural laundry products use safe, biodegradable ingredients such as vegetable oils.
Giveaway!

Win a Seventh Generation “Project Laundry Line” kit that includes Seventh Generation Natural 2x Concentrated Laundry Liquid (good for 66 loads of laundry), portable laundry line, clothes pins, and laundry basket. Just like you saw with me in the video above.

To Enter:

Share with me your memories of line drying {or} tell me what household changes you've made to be more eco-friendly.

Extra Entries:

Giveaway open to US residents now through July 8th midnight EST. Good luck and please make sure I have a way to contact you, if you win.

Signature

Disclosure: Seventh Generation provided me with the free product, gift pack, and giveaway through MyBlogSpark as well as with a Flip Camera to enable me to make this vlog. This vlog presents my own unbiased opinions and experiences with the product and challenge.

85 Friends Said:

Carol said...

What a great give-away!!! Eco-friendly.. we use fabric bags and have started a compost bin. We've also purchased a new washer and dryer that uses less water. I would like to try line drying, even if it's just a couple loads a week.

I also make fabric bags to give-away. :) All made from donated or recycled fabric. :)

Thanks again for such a GREAT give-away!

:)
Carol

Katie said...

We use cloth diapers on Gibson's bum and didn't with the other kids. It has been a simple change and for the most part we try to line dry his diapers...although, like you said, you have to plan ahead for the extra drying time:)

Anonymous said...

I actually like to line dry. I always add fabric softener though, as a lot of clothing items will come out stiff, which is horrible. I like to dry sheets, blankets, and cotton shirts. Towels, and jeans tend to always stay kinda stiff. It always helps out to dry a little first, say 10-15 minutes then hang the rest out. I'd love to try this detergent.

Anonymous said...

I follow your blog

Anonymous said...

I'm a subscriber by email

Carol said...

I am a goggle follower. :)

k-e-household said...

My mom hung, and still hangs her laundry from May to October. I do it now too :) Its a bit of an obsession. We also use cloth diapers on our babies.

Have you tried "snapping" your clothes and items before and after putting them on the line? That might help a bit.

My strategy is do do 1 load of laundry a day--instead of all the laundry on (lets say) Saturday. That way, you have your load out by 9 and can take it down at 3. A typical load in typical weather should only take 3 hours to dry--perfectly warm with a teeny breeze. Diapers of course take WAY longer!

Tara said...

That is the one thing I don't like about clothes line dried clothes...they are scratchy. Cute, portable clothes line though!!

Tara said...

I am a GFC follower!

Tara said...

I "liked" your FB page!

Tara said...

I have your link button my blog.

Tara said...

http://twitter.com/heely22/status/16871297001

I tweeted and have been following you on Twitter!

MommyAnna said...

I remember the smell that line dried cloths have. We are also cloth diapering and have been for a year and a half.

MommyAnna said...

I "liked" your FB.

MommyAnna said...

I "liked" Seventh Generation FB.

MommyAnna said...

I publicly follow your blog. (I'm a groupie!) :)

MaryAnne said...

I would love to win this giveaway - I've been wanting to try line drying for a while but can't convince DH to put posts in the ground for a permanent line.

We use cloth diapers and wipes to be eco-friendly, and we recycle and compost. And, I have fabulous memories of running through the sheets my mom would pin up to dry in our back yard.

thriftycraftmama at gmail dot com

MaryAnne said...

I follow you through GFC


thriftycraftmama at gmail dot com

MaryAnne said...

And I subscribe via email


thriftycraftmama at gmail dot com

MaryAnne said...

I have your button in my blogroll

thriftycraftmama at gmail dot com

MaryAnne said...

And I'm following Seventh Generation on twitter (@mamasmiles)


thriftycraftmama at gmail dot com

Kristen said...

I think I was the first person to use my friend's new front loading dryer (when I stayed at her house) because she line dries everything!

couponboss at gmail dot com

Linda Hill said...

I so much would love to win-the portable dryer..so awesome. I decided about 2-3 months ago that I was going to line dry our laundry..ALL of it. I don't have a clothes line so my husband put a ladder under our deck and I use the rungs on the ladder to hang my clothes on hangers on the ladder. I use clothespins to put the other stuff on hangers or try to rig it someway:). Crazy BUT I love the thought of saving energy and the clothes smell so good. I always use cold water to wash. thanks for the opportnuity to enter.email is cheesyhill@gmail.com

debbie said...

My mother used to always hang up the clothes outside. She always had the worst luck, it seemed like every time she did we either had a rain storm or a dust storm. I remember having to run outside and help her take them down.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com

debbie said...

I am a email subscriber.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com

RoS said...

I remember both my Mom and Grandma drying clothes on lines - in the backyard during the warm weather - or in the basement during cold weather. I think that all changed for my Mom when Uncle John was born - child No. 5. Grandpa bought a gas dryer. In my current neighborhood, the Home Owners' Assoc. bans line drying your clothes so we can keep a "park line" setting! But they don't ban those awful motorized leaf blowers the lawn service people use until 8:30 pm at night!!

Unknown said...

I have done small things like when i go to run angel a bath i plug the drain right away so none goes down the drain...I turn off the shower to lather up, we use as much of the natural light as possiable and dont turn on a bunch of lights.
I wish we had a way to hang dry our clothes, but i never knew where to get something like the system i see you have here. It would be perfect for us!
lynnnjoe)at)hotmail(dot)ocm

Unknown said...

i follow your blog via GFC
lynnnjoe(at)hotmail(dot)com

Unknown said...

i subscribe to your emails
lynnnjoe(at)hotmail(dot)com

Unknown said...

I like you on facebook
lamatthews
lynnnjoe(at)hotmail(dot)com

Unknown said...

i am a seventh generation fb fan
lamatthews
lynnnjoe(at)hotmail(dot)com

Unknown said...

i follow and tweet
http://twitter.com/LynnAnnMatthews/status/16892261027
lynnnjoe(at)hotmail(dot)com

Unknown said...

i follow seventh generation on twitter
@LynnAnnMatthews
lynnnjoe(at)hotmail(dot)com

Ruth said...

A memory I have is that my mom hung out the clothes, and it just began to pour down rain. The clothes were soaked and had to be rewashed.

ruthaw_1974@yahoo.com

Ruth said...

e-mail subscriber

ruthaw_1974@yahoo.com

Ruth said...

facebook fan of Jolly Mom

ruthaw_1974@yahoo.com

Ruth said...

seventh generation facebook fan

ruthaw_1974@yahoo.com

Ruth said...

GFC follower

ruthaw_1974@yahoo.com

EmmysBoosAndRawrs said...

I have been more eco-friendly by not using plastic bags. my email is littleheathen9109 @ yahoo dot com

EmmysBoosAndRawrs said...

im subscribed to you by email as littleheathen9109 @ yahoo dot com

EmmysBoosAndRawrs said...

I follow seventh generation on twitter as @boosandrawrs

Stephanie said...

I had to line dry for a week when our dryer broke...and we cloth diaper two children under two...so, needless to say, it was craziness. Other than cloth diapering, we also use natural cleaning and personal care products and I also use cloth pads.

Natalie A. said...

I use a clothes hand dryer rack that I use inside! I don't dry clothes that I don't need to! Thanks for the chance to win!

coolnatty12 at yahoo dot com

Natalie A. said...

I follow your blog!

coolnatty12 at yahoo dot com

Natalie A. said...

I subscribe!

coolnatty12 at yahoo dot com

Natalie A. said...

I like you on Facebook!
Natalie Ahotaeiloa

coolnatty12 at yahoo dot com

Natalie A. said...

I like them on Facebook!

coolnatty12 at yahoo dot com

Natalie A. said...

I follow and tweeted!
http://twitter.com/natdey/status/16995216183

coolnatty12 at yahoo dot com

polly said...

i changed over to line drying a long time ago. you will be amazed on how much money you save on your gas/electric bill.
polly
pkeintz@gmail.com

polly said...

follow gfc publicly
polly
pkeintz@gmail.com

Heather said...

We are cloth diapering our baby girl, we have a compost pile, we eat organic and we use earth-friendly cleaning supplies whenever possible!
hwebbs@gmail.com

Carol said...

I have blogged about your give-away and posted a button. :)

http://maplecreekracing.com/mcrblog/?p=5061

:)
Carol

Carol said...

I tweeted!!

http://twitter.com/maplecreek/status/17215344558

:)
carol

Carol said...

Added FB Like.

:)
carol

Carol said...

Added Seventh Generation to my Likes.

:)
carol

Carol said...

Twitter follower..

:)
carol

Carol said...

SeventhGen follower.

:)
carol

Carol said...

New email follower.

:)
carol

Deanna said...

I line dry and love it. The only bad part is the little ones *insist* on helping and it sloooows it down for me. They like the pins and shoving the basket around. But I need to slow down sometimes so it is a good thing afterall.

Deanna said...

Following you on twitter.

Jennie said...

It's just a dumb little thing, but until our landlord gets around tohaving our leaky shower fixed, I keep a bucket underneath the tap and use the water for my garden.

Unknown said...

Following you on Google and RSS!

Unknown said...

I now subscribe via email, too.

Unknown said...

Added your FB page to my likes

Unknown said...

Added seventh generation's FB page to my likes as well.

Unknown said...

Following you on twitter, and tweeted the giveaway

Unknown said...

following SG on twitter, too!

Jessica said...

I line dry whenever the weather will allow! I remember as a child line drying when we lived on an 80 acre ranch with no electricity (it was the only choice lol!). But I will never forget the time that we were line drying and a huge wind gust came up and took the clothes off the line and blew them into the neighbors field! We had to chase after them and gather them all up! lol

girlygirlugh at gmail dot com

Jessica said...

I am an email subscriber.

girlygirlugh at gmail dot com

Jessica said...

I "liked" you on FB. Screen name: Jessica Hendrickson

girlygirlugh at gmail dot com

Jessica said...

I "liked" Seventh Generation on FB. Screen name: Jessica Hendrickson.


girlygirlugh at gmail dot com

Jessica said...

I follow you on twitter and I tweeted!

http://twitter.com/girlygirlugh/status/17651276376

girlygirlugh at gmail dot com

Jessica said...

I follow Seventh Generation on twitter.

screen name: girlygirlugh

girlygirlugh at gmail dot com

Amanda said...

We always line-dried when I was a kid, but since I have grown up and have my own home, I haven't line dried at all. Although, we do 'fire dry' during the cold winters here. Our fireplace is usually on all day during the winter and I like to set clothes in front of it to dry. I think having the portable clothes line would be great! winnieayala at yahoo dot com

Amanda said...

I like Seventh Generation on Facebook (Amanda McFall Ayala)
winnieayala at yahoo dot com

lisa said...

A few months ago i started line drying my clothes. I love the fact that i am saving money and conserving energy. msmith572@yahoo.com

lisa said...

I follow your blog. msmith572@yahoo.com

lisa said...

I posted your button; under 'links 2': http://stephie-stephsblog.blogspot.com/

msmith572@yahoo.com

lisa said...

I 'like' your facebook page(lisa smith). msmith572@yahoo.com

lisa said...

I like Seventh Generation on facebook(lisa smith). msmith572@yahoo.com

lisa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
lisa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
lisa said...

I Follow Seventh Generation on Twitter(samasam). msmith572@yahoo.com

lisa said...

I follow you on Twitter(samsam) tweet:http://twitter.com/samasam/status/18040289461

msmith572@yahoo.com

EmmysBoosAndRawrs said...

I follow you as @boosandrawrs and tweeted
http://twitter.com/BoosAndRawrs/status/18059880403

my email is littleheathen9109 @ yah00 d0t c0m

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