Monday, July 23, 2007

Climate on a clothesline

Clothlines over Toronto The Toronto papers have in recent weeks carried a number of letters and articles decrying the lack of clotheslines to reduce our collective carbon footprint. Writers want bylaws and covenants against clotheslines eliminated so that the "little woman" can hang her clothes up to dry rather than load the hydro grid, or turn gas into CO2. My mother hung her clothes on a line because we were too poor to afford the few alternatives that there were. We have come a long way baby. Most families, and singles for that matter spend, their days at "real" work, not with time to spend hanging clothes in the sunshine. And things don't dry that well in the dark of the night. Our 25 foot city lots don't have room for the double lines of old. And one wonders how the thousands moving into the condos that line the waterfront will hang their clothes? Many places don't have opening windows for Pete's sake. Maybe we can just ban high density urban living so that all will have room for clotheslines!

Clothes on a line weren't that unsightly, but then neither were a few rusty cars on the front lawn. Most of us would rather just not live this way any more.

No comments: