[Greenbuilding] ENERGY STAR Clothes Dryers Program Launch

[Paul Eldridge]

Hi Grace,

I live in a Maritime climate which means that our local weather is 
dominated by rain, fog and high humidity; consequently, line drying can 
be a challenge at the best of times. And to keep our home from turning 
into one giant mould box, I run our dehumidifier almost non-stop five 
months of the year, so I'm not going to rack dry our clothes and further 
add to the moisture load.

I've taken several steps to reduce our home's environmental footprint.  
As mentioned, I purchase 100 per cent renewable electricity from 
Bullfrog Power (wind and low-impact hydro) that covers off 130 per cent 
of our household needs.  I've also converted our home to electric heat 
and in the process eliminated some 5,700 litres a year of fuel oil 
demand; even so, our total consumption -- space heating, domestic hot 
water, cooking, major appliances and all plug loads -- is a little over 
9,000 kWh/year, and falling.  This, for a 44 year old, 2,500 sq. ft. 
home in a climate that is colder than that of Buffalo, NY.

We buy much of our food from local producers, recycle diligently, all of 
our clothing is purchased at second-hand shops, even the ThinkPad that 
I'm typing this on is seven years old and was three years old when I 
acquired it.  We walk or bike just about everywhere we can and have 
stopped taking holidays.  Our water consumption varies between 100 and 
130 litres a day 
(http://i362.photobucket.com/albums/oo69/HereinHalifax/WaterHistory.jpg). We 
use so little water that the city replaced our meter thinking it was 
defective and have been back twice looking for signs of tampering.  In 
addition, the work I do professionally eliminates about 15,000 kWh of 
incremental customer load per day, seven days a week -- that's over 
twelve tonnes of incremental CO2(e) that's eliminated each and every day 
of the year.

So, you'll have to forgive me if I sound a little testy about having to 
defend the use of our dryer, but I feel that I've more than carried my 
weight.

Cheers,
Paul

>On 07/22 at 22:46 PM, Paul Eldridge wrote:
>
>>/  I've line dried in the past, but have come to appreciate the convenience
/>>/  of tossing everything into the dryer, twisting a knob and pressing a
/>>/  button, and it seems that I'm far from alone in this.  And if someone
/>>/  disapproves of my choices or finds my behaviour morally repugnant, I'm
/>>/  OK with that too.
/>
>I agree that it's convenient.
>
>If our energy prices reflected the actual externalities - incrementally
>depleted resources, added pollution in emissions and PVC-covered wire in
>landfills, etc - then I would have no problem with your choice.  You
>would be paying for it.
>
>The problem right now is that we're NOT paying for our choices as we
>should be, and so the feedback loops which influence our behavior are
>weaker and longer than they should be.
>
>When someone puts his used motor oil down the stormwater drain, that's
>convenient, too - so little of the impact comes down on him as an
>individual, while ALL of the benefit accrues to him.
>
>Grace