Jeff Says: Try These 5 Tips for Eco Laundering

Okay, so I have a fascination with dryer lint that some might say borders on a fetish.

In fourth grade I set out to knit a sweater for my mom out of the fluffy stuff. The project quickly morphed into a scarf, then further devolved into a pot holder, and end up as a sort of a fuzzy cocktail coaster that only a mother could love. And still to this day, I like to think of dryer lint as the Cheapskate's Velvet, one of the great untapped resources of our time.

After all, dryer lint truly is a precious commodity when you consider what it represents: The life of your expensive clothing, being beaten out of them by the harsh process of machine washing and drying. When you look at it that way, the true cost of an ounce of dryer lint might well rival the cost of gold...or at least silver...would you believe palladium? You get the point.

I had a chance to look at some creative reuses for dryer lint—and, more importantly, the environmental and economic costs of washing your clothes—in a $aving Green by Living Green segment that aired recently on G Word. I found a few simple tips that make doing the laundry a lot easier on the environment, not to mention easier on both your clothes and your wallet. Try these on for size:

• Wash all clothes in cold water only. Doing laundry in hot/warm water wastes energy, costs more, and is tougher on fabrics. Roughly 80% of the energy used in doing a load of wash is due to heating the water. New all-coldwater detergents get clothes just as clean.


• Wash and dry full loads. Stockpile your dirty clothes until you have enough to do a heaping full load of wash, thereby maximizing the return on the energy—and money—you're expending. When drying clothes in a machine, try to dry loads back-to-back, thereby making use of the heat retained in the machine.


• Sort clothes by fabric weight. Washing and drying a load of different fabric weight items is the least efficient use of the energy expended. Whenever possible, wash separate (but full!) loads of heavy, medium, light weight items so that you use just the right amount of energy to get the job done.


• Use the right equipment. Choose a front loading, Energy Star rated washing machine at the laundromat or for your home. They use less electricity and almost 90% less water than top loading washers without the Energy Star rating, plus they reduce drying time by extracting more water from your laundry.


• And speaking of dryer lint...Clean the lint trap in your dryer after every use to increase energy efficiency. Or, better yet, line-dry your clothes in the fresh air; your clothes will last longer and smell a lot fresher. (But then again, you won't have any dryer lint for that sweater you're knitting, and Mother's Day is only eight months away...)

Stay Cheap!
-Jeff Yeager
The Ultimate Cheapskate

Jeff Yeager is a freelance writer and broadcast journalist specializing in an offbeat blend of original humor and practical advice for enjoying life more by spending and consuming less. He is the author of the book The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches (Broadway Books / Random House 2008) and creator of the website, Ultimate Cheapskate. In addition to appearing on G Word, Yeager is an occasional guest correspondent on the NBC Today Show. Earlier in his career, Yeager spent 25 years as a CEO and senior executive with national nonprofit environmental organizations in the Washington, DC, area.

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