Teeny tiny paradigm

Donella Meadows is one of my heroes. As the founder of The Sustainability Institute, she is a leading thinker on ways that humans might continue to inhabit this earth. She doesn't paint an exact picture; that's for all of us to find out. But she does point out some important fallacies, broken policies, and new ways of thinking.
In her Leverage Points white paper, she outlines some important ways we can intervene in a system to affect change. As I was taking my laundry off the clothesline this morning, I thought about the small but important part of our daily life taken up by laundry. What if we shifted the way we think about it acted a little more kindly toward Mother Earth?
Here is what most people do:
1. Sort laundry
2. Wash laundry using a setting (hot, warm, cold),
a. use laundry soap and fabric softener
3. Dry laundry in a machine
4. Sort for ironing
5. Fold laundry
6. Put laundry away
7. Do it all over again
If you ask the man on the street why he throws his wet laundry in the dryer, he wouldn't have an answer beyond "It's how you get it to dry". Makes sense. Dry clothes can then be put away, ironed, worn, etc.
But do you need ALL of your clothes that very moment?
Probably not.
Thus...what about drying them on a clothesline? You use much less energy than a dryer. The sun is unlimited. Dry air is common, especially in winter. You don't have to deal with two hulking machines in your house.
"But it takes too much time" the man on the street argues.
The extra 10 minutes per day when you stand outside and futz with clothespins is 10 minutes of fresh air and peace. To say nothing about the energy you save.
Am I an ecological saint? Absolutely not! Jonny and I share a car, we fly in planes, we don't always buy local or organic, we wear clothes made in China, we occasionally use plastic bottles, etc.
But it's a start and a small change. It adds up.
Here's what the new process looks like:
1. Sort laundry
2. Wash laundry using a setting (I vote for cold)
a. use laundry soap
3. Dry laundry on line
4. Take laundry off line
5. Sort for ironing (but usually line-dried clothes are less wrinkly)
6. Fold laundry
7. Put laundry away
8. Do it all over again
Less energy. No fabric softener (and nasty chemicals). Less wrinkly clothes.
Give it a shot. The clothesline is $12.99 at Lowe's. String it up and enjoy the crisp feeling of air-dried towels. Stiff jeans. And ditch that silly Snuggle bear.
PS: If you're worried that your neighbors might suddenly think they live in a shantyville on account of your panties flapping in the wind, you need new neighbors.