For as long as I can remember, my family has always dried our laundry by hand, utilizing the large southern magnolia tree that sits in our backyard as a hanging rack. Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate this type of drying method, for its environmental friendliness, the ability to watch nature, and for the actual results of the clothes themselves. For these reasons, hand-drying clothes using the natural environment is much more beneficial than using a machine dryer.

To start off, air-drying clothes allows for better results in the clothing itself. It’s proven that air-drying clothing can help it last longer. Using a machine to dry your clothes can cause lint, but air-drying reduces the amount that clothes get stretched out. Line-drying is much more gentle on clothing, as they don’t get tossed around and crumpled in the machine. Additionally, if you do have any wrinkled clothes, hanging them outside will help reduce wrinkles. Because of gravity, the clothes are weighed down by the water, which causes them to return to their original shape. It also saves you from ironing a batch of clothes! Lastly, air-drying your clothes can help clean your clothes easier! When hand-drying your clothes after a wash, the UV rays from the sun act as a natural disinfectant.

“My family and I have always air-dried our clothes because it encourages all of us to be responsible and finish our chores. Additionally, I like it because many of my clothes turn out nicely afterward, and they are usually straight, and I like the warmth of it from drying out in the sun. Especially in California, I think that we should take advantage of the warm weather and air-dry our clothes”, Arcadia High School, senior, Lucy Zhang, stated. 

It’s obvious that air-drying laundry is more environmentally friendly than using a dryer, but by how much?

 According to The Cleancult Team, “simply switching from using a clothes dryer to air-drying your clothes after washing them, you could reduce your home’s carbon footprint 2,400 pounds a year”. 

That’s more than two times the weight of an adult male moose! Additionally, as it’s usually the second-most energy-consuming appliance in the household, it’s important to cut down on your electrical bills to save money and help the environment!

Last but not least, nature is our world, and in a society where so many of us can have a go-go-go mentality, it’s important to be around nature to relax our minds. Air-drying laundry encourages us to spend more time outdoors and to appreciate the natural beauty of our backyards. Additionally, who knows what you could find out there? I found out there was a loquat tree sitting right in my backyard that needed fertilizer to produce fruit! Additionally, being around nature brings a different sense of calm, which is always needed when doing something productive for yourself and the environment. 

In all, it’s important to be more considerate to the environment and yourself! Being more eco-friendly can be as easy as switching from using a machine to dry your laundry to air-drying it! Plus, it saves your electricity bill by a lot and allows you to relax when you finish your chores.

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