This week, the Slate/Treehugger Green Challenge focuses on clothing, and I’ve pledged to do things I’m already doing such as donate instead of throwing away unwanted clothes, line dry half my clothes, wash only full loads, and use warm or cold water to wash.
I’ll also purchase an Energy Star front-loading machine when the one we have now wears out. I was going to do that anyway.
Allegedly, by doing these things that I’m already doing, I can remove the equivalent of .08 cars from the road, but since I’m already doing them, I think it’s more a matter of keeping .08 cars off the road.
According to my reduction quiz page:
- The average American disposes of about 66 pounds of clothing and shoes each year, according to the Gaia Movement Trust. Donating instead of tossing saves about 165 pounds of CO2 emissions per person per year.
- Using only cold or warm water to wash your clothes saves energy and about 150 pounds of CO2 per person per year.
- Swapping the dryer for the clothes line saves 350 pounds of CO2 per person per year.
- Purchasing an Energy Star washing machine saves an average of 257 pounds of CO2 emissions per person per year.
So, for purposes of this carbon diet challenge, I’ve now reduced my initial carbon footprint by an additional 787 lbs, which brings my total reduction to 5792 lbs or 32% of my original total of 18274 lbs.
I’m just glad I don’t have to wear a hemp cloak to be green. Although, cloaks are cool.
James Brush is a teacher and writer who lives in Austin, TX. He tries to get outside as much as possible.
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