This is sponsored content from BlogHer and GE.
Anyone else anxious for warmer temperatures, blue skies….and clothes on the line?
Me! Me! Me! Me!!
But I did put this last few week's cold temperatures to work too.
One of my favorite household chores, if there is such a thing, is laundry – and I’ve been saving energy this way ever since we were married 18 ½ years ago. It’s great for the clothes too, they last so much longer. Believe it or not, we’re still using the towels we got for wedding gifts, and they don’t show much wear at all. I’ll wager they still have another 20 years in them if I keep drying them on the line instead of in the dryer.
And last week, the below zero temperatures were perfect for drying the rugs and jeans quickly over the heater vents.
I like to line dry everything all year long. Only when I fall behind do I put the whites through the dryer. Or those few weeks in the fall and spring when it's too cold to hang things outside, but the heat doesn't kick on enough inside - I've been known to use my dryer then. Like this week. But we're not complaining. I was loving those high 40 degree temps this last couple days! My windows were open!
I'm hopeful for sheets on the line outside by early next week.
This all goes well with the ecomagination Challenge: Powering Your Home that GE is currently hosting. It's an open call for fresh thinking on eco-home technology and innovations that can effectively harness renewable energy for the home. I know I have a lot of creative, clever and efficient readers that have some great ideas to share. Now's the time!
I've been known to call myself the manager of our home, as I often liken the process of running it to the job I had managing a store years ago. So much of what we do as managers of our home is finding ways to make it run more smoothly. This challenge is about sharing those ideas on a larger scale. Make a difference!
Back to my own little part, to keep up with the laundry and be able to dry things on the racks – I do two loads per day (but not on Sunday) I dry shirts on hangers in the laundry, pants on the drying rack in the upstairs bathroom, hand towels and the little boy’s trousers on the mitten drying rack (aka: IKEA kitchen towel drying rack – and those dry on there swell too), and I have another mitten drying rack in the form of a cord hanging from the ceiling that I clip the freshly washed dishrags to.
Another bonus is that it all helps add just a little more moisture into our dry winters and helps us cut the energy on our humidifier.
Love that!
Along with the GE ecomagination Challenge, I also have a giveaway that I know you'll like......
Giveaway Dates: 2/15 - 2/28/2011
Prize: Two $50 GE energy smart LED light bulbs that last 20 years and saves you $85 in energy cost. One given away per week of contest length.
How to win: Share with me what your energy use challenges at home are.
Rules:
- No duplicate comments
- You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
- Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
- Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
- Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
- For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
- This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older
- Winners will be selected via random draw and will be notified by e-mail
- You'll have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
- The official rules are available here: Visit the Official Rules
The small changes we're making at home like unplugging unused appliances, washing clothes in cold water, hanging our sheets on the line and carpooling will make a world of difference in the future.
