Hanging Laundry is a God-Given Right

I know I've waxed poetic about my clothesline before, and even gave a tip sheet on proper outdoor laundry drying, so obviously I am biased.

Lots of subdivision developers have put in a clause in home purchasing agreements that state the homeowners are not allowed erect a pole-to-pole clothing line for drying their laundry. There's one right here in the small city where I live, which makes resident (and my friend) K nuts.

Finally, a city councillor, this time in Aurora, is tabling a motion designed to protect the tried and true clothesline from the housing industry. A couple more councillors from around southern Ontario are joining in to fight for the Right to Dry.

Estimations put clothes dryers as accounting for 6 per cent of energy consumption in the average home. Hell, I do a load of laundry every day. If I were to machine dry every damned load, I'll bet I'd be using more than that.

Some American governments have waded into the waters on this and have created measures to protect the clothesline. Florida has a state law that encourages the use of solar power and mentions clotheslines specifically. Utah punishes developers who include terms that restrict the use of clotheslines.

I'm told that developers think they're an eyesore. I disagree wholeheartedly. In this age where we're strongly encouraged to conserve energy (and it's common sense anyway), let Mother Nature do her chores.