Liz Wicksteed wrote to us about her problem of trying to reduce her carbon footprint while she is legally prevented from hanging her washing outside. Because it is an issue that faces thousands of people living in the UK, she has agreed to me sharing her query with the readers of this blog, so that others in a similar situation will also have more information about the issue and they can discuss it with Liz on our forum too if they would like to.
Dear EcoStreet,
I live in a housing estate where all the properties are legally bound to stick to something called the rentcharge deed. Amongst various mostly sensible provisions, the rentcharge deed includes the ludicrous provision that no one will hang out washing outside. The rentcharge deed was drawn up in the late eighties and I guess they just weren’t alive to environmental issues then! Unfortunately it is only possible to change the rentcharge deed if 100% of households agree, so I need to make my case as strong as possible. Do you have any info on the average carbon emmissions of tumble dryers per year, and any vivid ways of expressing that, for instance by comparing it to herds of cows farting or miles driven or what have you? And might you know whether this prohibition on hanging washing out would mean that properties on our estate would be less likely to be rated highly for HIPs purposes, or where I can find info on that?
As you can imagine, I think the prohibition is completley daft and am very keen to get it overturned. The idea that someone could be taken to court for reducing their carbon footprint in this totally harmless way is just absurd! But I know that some people on the estate will take a lot of persuading, so I’d be extremely grateful for any ammo you can give me.
all the best, Liz Wicksteed
Here are the figures. The Environment Agency estimates that £88m is spent on powering tumble dryers alone in the UK every year. And that if every family in the UK hung out one load of laundry per week it would save around 515,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, that’s the equivalent of taking 100,000 cars off the road for a year. Every use of a tumble dryer generates some 1.5kg of carbon dioxide – enough to fill 150 party balloons. Using a tumble dryer for every wash means that you will be emitting about 500kg of CO2 a year. It would take 13 sapling trees 10 years to absorb all this CO2. And by giving up your tumble dryer, you could also save yourself in excess of £70 a year in energy bills.
You may also be interested to know about the Right-to-Dry campaign in the USA where it is pretty commonplace not to be allowed to hang your washing on a clothesline. The Project Laundry List website carries information on this and other campaigns in the US where people who are in a similar position to yours are fighting for their right to dry their laundry in the sun. They also provide advice on how to publicise your campaign and sample letters to the press, legislators and neighbours.
Unfortunately I was unable to answer your question regarding the impact that the rentcharge deed might have on your HIP rating. Perhaps someone who reads this will have the answer. If you do, please leave a comment or contact Liz on the forum.
For those who are in a flat and aren’t allowed to hang washing up outside, or don’t have a balcony, there are some eco-friendly solutions for drying your laundry too. Natural Collection sells an overhead dryer that will take advantage of hot air rising and won’t use up your floor space. As a last resort or if you’re sticking with your tumble dryer regardless, you can save 25% of the energy you use with these dryer balls. And finally, switch to green electricity now to shrink your carbon footprint considerably, even if you are still using your tumble dryer.