Many families in Sri Lanka use washing machines and dryers these days to do laundry. Although they save a lot of time and human muscle power, washing machines tend to use up a lot of resources, in particular water. Also, people prefer to wash their clothes at a higher temperature, as it gives a cleaner and better wash (chemicals in detergents are easily activated in warmer conditions); therefore more energy is required to heat up the water.
Keeping these points in mind, here are a few tips to go green whilst doing your laundry (apart from hand-washing clothes, which is by far the greenest way possible!)
Wash one full load instead of two smaller ones. If you do not have enough clothes for a full load, then wait until you do, or else ask someone else in the family if they have anything to wash (gaining bonus points with family!). Take care not to overload your washer – your clothes must be able to move freely in order to get clean otherwise you will have to wash them twice! If you cannot fill up the washing machine, then reduce the water level accordingly. When rinsing your clothes, change your settings to a cold-water rinse. You don’t need warm or hot water for rinsing, so you can save energy by this simple switch.
If you use a dryer, check its exhaust vent periodically to make sure that it closes tightly. If outside air is let in, then more energy is required to dry the clothes. Also, clean the lint filter in the dryer after every load of clothes for maximum efficiency. Else, scrap the whole dryer concept and just hang your clothes out to dry! There is more than enough sunshine here to dry clothes!
