|
A simple piece of rope hangs between some environmentally friendly Americans and their neighbors. On one side stand those who have begun to see clothes dryers as wasteful consumers of energy (up to 6% of total electricity) and powerful emitters of carbon dioxide (up to a ton of CO2 per household every year). As an alternative, they are turning to clotheslines as part of what Alexander Lee, an environmentalist, calls what-I-can- do environmentalism. But on the other side are people who oppose air-drying laundry outside on aesthetic grounds. Increasingly, they have persuaded community and homeowners associations(HOAs) across the U.S. to ban outdoor clotheslines, which they say not only look unsightly but also lower surrounding property values. Those actions, in turn, have sparked a right-to-dry movement that is pressing for legislation to protect the choice to use clotheslines. Only three states--Florida, Hawaii and Utah--have laws written broadly enough to protect clotheslines. Right-to-dry advocates argue that there should be more. Matt Reck is the kind of eco-conscious guy who feeds his trees with bathwater and recycles condensation drops from his air conditioners to water plants. His family also uses a clothesline. But Otto Hagen, president of Recks HOA in Wake Forest, N.C., notified him that a neighbor h, ad complained about his line. The Recks ignored the warning and still dry their clothes on a rope in the yard. Many people claim to be environmentally friendly but dont take matters into their own hands, says Reck. HOAs Hagen has decided to hold off taking action. m not going to go crazy, he says. But if Matt keeps his line and more neighbors complain, Ill have to address it again. | 
