Inconvenient Laundry

In Tokyo 'clotheslines' are the norm but in other parts of the world (read: America), some people hang clotheslines to fight global warming.

Ever since I saw an Inconvenient Truth I've been conscientiously trying to reduce my own 'carbon footprint', as they say. Given that I already don't drive a car I feel like I'm starting out ahead, but I do try to do things like turning off my computer instead of letting it run all day and keeping the heat low and wearing a hoodie to make up the difference.

In my old apartment using a dryer was a no-brainer. We didn't have one! Everyone in Tokyo airs their futon on the balcony (which everyone has), and dries their clothes, towels and sheets on some variation of a clothesline. But my new landlord, in his infinite generosity, installed a dryer for us in the house. (!) So now I have to make a decision...

...(please humor me, I feel a digression coming on) This reminds me of the time in college when I had a brief existential crisis over buying toothpaste. I was at the Walgreens at 55th and Lake Park in Chicago, wrestling with the choice of buying the expensive but environmentally friendly Tom's of Maine toothpaste or the much cheaper but non-evironmentally remarkable standard toothpaste. I must have spent at least 15 minutes in the toothpaste aisle trying to make the decision:
I care about the environment, right? Well this is my chance to make a difference! C'mon, its just toothpaste! And it's so much more expensive! Yes, but if I really care about it I should be willing to make a sacrifice. Oh please, all this over toothpaste? This is ridiculous! Well no, it's a small thing but it's the principle of the matter. Am I going to put my money where my mouth is?
In the end I bought the Tom's of Maine. It tasted disgusting. The tube was already pretty small, and I don't quite remember if I finished it. But whether I did or not the next tube I bought was certainly the standard toothpaste that probably also tasted really minty and whitened my teeth.

So back to the dryer question. For my first couple of laundry loads I refused the dryer, but then I used it once, with a bit of guilt. I've (obviously) given this some thought - probably moreso today because I'm doing laundry - and I'm wavering between two solutions: to use the dryer only for towels or to not really use the dryer for anything, but to put my towels in there to soften them up after drying outside.

If there is one thing I learned from my Tom's of Maine experience - besides the fact that I really am a Crest girl - it's that you can't force environmentalism on yourself. While guilt is a powerful and useful tool you can't guilt yourself into a habit that you'll be unable to keep, or even worse, resent keeping; especially when there are so many ways to reduce your carbon footprint. So, maybe I will put my towels into the dryer... and maybe a linen skirt too.

http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/