Green Laundry Tips from Real World Green

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Video Transcript

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Hey, everyone. I am Eric Rochow, this is Real World Green. Today, very exciting, laundry. Laundry happens, believe it or not even I Eric who likes to wear a sweatshirt and (Inaudible) all day long has to have clean clothes on the occasion. And the current laundry businesses or the washing of your clothes business is actually pretty un-green from the research I found.

Starting off with laundry detergents, laundry detergents can have phosphates, optical brighteners and perfumes and some of the stuff they are using is not really good for you or for the environment. And we remember, when you draining your washer, it is going into the septic or into the sewer system, it eventually goes to a body of water. So think about what you are dumping into that water.

Consider using a biodegradable or green laundry detergent. Specifically look for one that says, labels say, free and clear or like this one, it says, made without DEA, dyes, perfumes or phosphates. And as bonus, this one says, made with as much post consumer recycled plastic as possible. So that is like a double green thing.

Set you washer on the cold water setting. Most laundry detergents now are designed to work in cold water. You do not need to cook everything on the hot water setting. And that also allows you as you can turn your hot water heater down. It is probably up at 140, consider turning it down to 120, you save some energy there.

And also, if you are going to use bleach, consider using a nonchlorine bleach. Chlorine bleach has dioxins in it, couple of other nasty things so, try and limit your use of chlorine bleach. If you are going to buy a new washer, consider buying one that has the energy star label on it, that means it is much more energy efficient. And consider buying a front loader, they are more efficient with water than the top loaders are. And they will also extend the life of your clothes because they are little more gentle in the wash cycle on your clothing.

The best way to dry your laundry is to take it outside. Remember our previous show, we talked about the clothes line. Today, another really simple one, I introduce to the clothes line. If it is pouring down rain outside and you do not want to put your laundry out on the clothes line in the rain, I would understand that. You can use your dryer in the house. Before each dryer load, clean out the lint trap of your dryer. And make sure that theâ€”what is the part that is outside--the dryer vent, make sure that is clear as well.

And every year or so consider taking a part, the pipe that goes from your dryer to the outside and cleaning that as well. All that builds up, it impedes airflow and makes your dryer on much more inefficient. So there you go some nice green laundry tips for today. Come to the greenhouse; tell us what you think. You have some better ideas for us, something we have not thought about, let us know. All right. Make it a great day. I will see you later.