International Clothesline Week

Before there was ever such a thing as International Clothesline Week, do you remember as a kid seeing your mother hang the clothes on the clothesline and a few hours later helping her to take them down and smelling the freshness of each piece? Even in the winter you'd be pulling in frozen pieces of clothes that would stand on their own. Now many people ONLY use dryers ... lots of dryers!

Over 75% of our households have a clothes dryer drawing huge amounts of energy! If every household participated for even one day it would save us a huge amount of energy which translates into a huge dollar savings. More importantly that translates into less charcoal pollutants and thus less health consequences associated with coal driven electricity. As a global community, if we could all hang our clothes to dry, it will mean healthier mentalities, healthier relationships and a healthier earth. And that's just one day; how about a week, a year, a lifetime??

As part of our conscious development to think and act on thoughts that support OUR health and the health of OUR planet, humans are encouraged to participate in the following:

INTERNATIONAL CLOTHESLINE WEEK (ICW): (As registered in the Chase's Calendar of Events)

• When: Annually, the 1st Saturday in June, for one week.
• Next date: June 7, 2008
• Location: World Wide
• Description: For at least one week, International Clothesline Week encourages the public to hang clothes to dry instead of using their electric or gas dryer. If you can, make it a lifetime practice. Like a new years resolution make it the beginning of a new “healthy” habit. If you already do hang your clothes, commit to encouraging at least one other person, IN THE WORLD, to hang their clothes and/or commit to doing something else for the environment.
• PLEASE: Let us know of ANY other environmentally supportive suggestions that you may have.
• Clothesline: In lieu of having a traditional clothesline (you know, the one with two pulleys, one on each end) you could create an indoor clothesline installation, temporarily using a piece of rope and tie it between two solid structures.
• Where to hang your clothes: OUTSIDE on a clothesline would be best and you can also use: a clothes rack, a chair, your back porch, your unused treadmill, etc.
• Contact: Tell others to go to www.HangToDry.com for International Clothesline Week information which will bring them to this page.
• Mission: To have all humans of this earth collectively save energy by hanging clothes to dry as often as possible for the environment.
• The Goal: To encourage humans to use alternate energy…any clean form such as…solar, wind, HUMAN power, thermal, bio and others.

What is International Clothesline Week asking us to do? Every year the first full week in June (Saturday to Saturday) hang your clothes to dry instead of using an electric clothes dryer. 2008's start date is June 7, rain or shine. If a sunny day, hang your clothes outside; if a rainy day, hang your clothes inside. If you can't do it for a week, hang your clothes for a day or even just one load of laundry ... or a pair of jeans…any amount counts and will be appreciated by the people and by the earth itself.

Additional action: if hanging your clothes outside, make a statement by hanging flags or symbols of your country, culture, religion, a world flag (see http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/worldflag.html) and/or etc, to indicate that humans, from all walks of life, are interconnected and collectively involved in doing good things for the earth.

Have an International Clothesline Week Parade or Picnic in your community. Ask your city or town to participate in this event by publicizing the event and setting up the route and/or picnic location. You can get green sponsors to get on your side and likely many people will volunteer. Set up a contest to see who has the longest clothesline, the coolest clothesline, newest energy device, etc, all in the name of leading humanity into conscious awareness of their use of energy.

Things to consider when hanging clothes to dry:

1. saves up to 10% of residential energy; Running a dryer 20 hours a month will cost you on average 100 kilowatt hours. A clothesline's operating costs are zero!!
2. less need for nuclear energy or coal energy
3. less emissions which saves our health, literally less deaths and saves the earth
4. using solar and wind power - free
5. clothes smell better (like sun and air)
6. clothes feel better
7. clothes will last much longer (less wear and tear from the heat and tumbling of the dryer)
8. clothes don't wrinkle – no need to use electric iron, another savings
9. no need to wait for the dryer to finish
10. don't have to empty the lint tray
11. improve relationships; working together for the greater good builds friendships and love…
12. can be therapeutic – the time it takes to hang the clothes can be time of reflection of you, family, earth, etc.
13. burn calories - because you're exercising many muscles you burn about 45 calories every 15 minutes.

Is hanging clothes allowed? Maybe not!

If your municipality/region/builder doesn't allow clothes to be hanged then take a stand and do it anyway; make a statement during International Clothesline Week! Is aesthetics more important then saving lives? Call your local city hall's zoning and building department to ask them about the regulations. If hanging clothes outside is not allowed in your area, ask your municipality how you can change the law. If unsure and uncomfortable, just hang your clothes inside or do some other electricity saving action.

Please: Tell everyone that you know AROUND THE WORLD about International Clothesline Week; friends, relatives, media, groups, your government; get your children involved at their school. Give people a clothespin that has written "hangtodry.com" on one side (this site has all the information regarding this event) – ask them to PLEASE check it out and get involved!

Interested in volunteering (we would love your help!), donating or just have a question about International Clothesline Week? Check out the link: www.HangToDry.com and send your contact info in the form provided for a reply. THANK YOU!

Very Best,

Gary Drisdelle, ICW Organizer

Life/Vision Coach, Wellness Specialist, Earth Lover

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