{"id":2093,"date":"2017-09-13T18:37:48","date_gmt":"2017-09-13T18:37:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hamlinechurch.org\/?p=2093"},"modified":"2021-02-08T14:37:55","modified_gmt":"2021-02-08T14:37:55","slug":"lifestyle-changes-with-environmental-impacts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hamlinechurch.org\/wordpress\/lifestyle-changes-with-environmental-impacts\/","title":{"rendered":"Lifestyle changes with environmental impacts"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Fall every couple of weeks, green team members and supporters will be sharing some personal stories and insights on what embracing values of sustainability means to them in their own lives and as members of the Hamline Church community.\u00a0 We invite you to learn and become inspired to take further action in your own life or as a member of our community.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n

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by Natalie Freund<\/em><\/p>\n

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Natalie with her family: Jason, Jasmine and Harper.<\/p><\/div>\n

I have been challenging myself this past year to make changes in my lifestyle to help minimize my environmental footprint and do my part to help the world. One of those changes I am particularly proud of has been our family\u2019s choice to line dry our clothes.\u00a0It is one significant way our family of four can use less energy every week. I grew up using a drying rack for sweaters and a few other items. We decided this last year though to go all in and line dry absolutely all of our laundry each week.<\/p>\n

The first thing I did was purchase two additional racks to line dry our clothes. I found the best drying rack for our family are the metal racks sold at Menards for around $20.\u00a0They fold up small, and are super light. If the weather is nice, I can take them out on our back patio and have the clothes dry in the sun, however most of the time I open them up and use them right next to the washing machine.\u00a0The biggest change I had to make was in planning, because now I could no longer run several loads in a row or I would run out of drying space.<\/p>\n

\"\"It felt great from the start making this change to use less energy, and I actually find it relaxing to lay out the clothes as well.\u00a0We know we are helping the environment by using a lot less energy every week, and are also saving money on our electric bill each month.\u00a0Also, line-dried clothes last longer.\u00a0 One area people struggle with is line-dried towels,\u00a0as they can feel rather hard and stiff once dry.\u00a0We just got used to it as a family, but I initially felt embarrassed to have people over who were not accustomed to stiff hand or bath towels.\u00a0I found a good solution by buying DriSoft towels<\/a>, available from Bed Bath & Beyond and other retailers.\u00a0 They are a thinner towel so do not dry stiff like traditional towels.\u00a0We still used our dryer in a pinch four times last year. I would highly recommend that everyone try line drying their clothes and see how it works for you.\u00a0It does not mean it always needs to be done but each time you are line drying instead of using the dryer you are making a positive environmental impact.<\/p>\n

Some Benefits of Line-Drying Clothes:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n