Halifax New Democrat MLA Howard Epstein has put forth a private member’s bill to allow it, Al Gore promotes it, the whole province of Ontario has its knickers in a knot about it and politicians, lawyers and developers are squabbling about it. It’s made the pages of the New York Times, the Globe and Mail and Time magazine. A Facebook group is dedicated to it as are several nonprofits. This highly controversial subject is the humble clothesline and whether or not it should be allowed in urban backyards — the battle has been dubbed “the right to dry” campaign.
After spending five years on an organic farm in B.C. where she was without a washer and dryer, followed by time in Nelson where clotheslines are a fixture in every yard, Gillian Hillerud hangs her laundry out to dry at her Sunalta rental house from habit. “I don’t even think about it. In Nelson, I’d go out on my deck and look at the neighbourhood, and everyone had a clothesline or two. Then I came to Calgary and practically no one has a clothesline — it’s crazy.” Hillerud and her partner Dylan Edmiston asked their landlord before they installed their clothesline. He was happy to grant it, since he foots the utility bill.
An Indiana University study found that almost seven per cent of the energy consumed in the U.S. is from clothes dryers. Another study from Cambridge University looked at the ecological footprint of clothing — evaluating the type of material used, manufacturing process, shipping and lifetime care. It concluded that 60 per cent of the energy associated with a piece of clothing is spent in laundering it.
One would think the environmental and economic logic of line drying laundry would be enough to convince the majority to divorce their dryers. Not so. Clotheslines are banned in many municipalities and communities across North America. Hillerud is surprised to hear there’s any debate about it. “I find it so ironic, especially with the focus on efficient appliances and hybrid cars — hanging your laundry out is the most basic thing you can do.” It’s true — reducing dependence on clothes dryers is a simple prospect compared to other endeavours like installing solar panels or buying offsets. It’s just not as sexy.
While clotheslines are part of the culture in places like India and Asia, they have been regarded as a marker of poverty and esthetically displeasing throughout much of North America. This has resulted in the ban of both municipally and by communities via residential associations and developers in the ’80s that continue to spread today. That’s where the “right to dry” campaign comes in.
Phyllis Morris, mayor of Aurora just north of Toronto, is leading the campaign there. Morris is trying to push forward part of the province’s energy conservation leadership law that would abolish local bans on clotheslines imposed by developers through sale agreements and residential associations. “People feel that if you need legislation in order to hang a string and two hooks in your backyard, something is wrong.”
Hillerud, meanwhile, wonders what’s stopping Calgarians from taking advantage of the energy savings. “There are so many pros to having a clothesline — especially if you’re paying your own bills. I think people just don’t even think about it, most people probably grew up in a house with a clothes dryer. It’s conditioning — you do what you’ve always done.”
While clotheslines are dotted throughout older communities like Southwood and Brentwood, most of the new suburbs in Calgary are dryer-dependent. The city’s affluence and concern for esthetics seems to have trumped energy and dollar savings.
However, with the general growing tendency to consider the environmental consequences of everyday choices, Hillerud and Edmiston are likely on the forefront of an emerging trend. The couple even hang their clothes indoors during the winter. It’s a revolution in the making.
According to Hillerud, though, “I don’t think we’re radical, we just do our best.”
 
clothesline-friendly websites
Visit www.laundrylist.org, home of the “right to dry” campaign.
Canadian Tire’s energy conscious product website www.advancegreen.ca features dozens of hip and affordable indoor and outdoor clothes drying solutions for the eco-urbanite.