Has the time come to introduce the clothes line to new developments? A constituent thinks so:
According to the CBC, today is a day when Canadians can celebrate “hanging out the laundry”. When we realized the laundry referred to was clothes and not politics we were nonetheless interested in hearing opinions on hung laundry across this country.
What better time to suggest to you a couple of energy-saving guidelines that could be incorporated into the city. Developers are still presenting their plans for new subdivisions. Mostly these are of the “little boxes” design, mostly they are the same old models that proliferate the landscape around every Ontario town and city.
While the actual design may not be easy to change, why not introduce a new idea, a new provision, as a term for approval? Why not ask – or demand – that clothes lines be a fixture in the backyard of every new home? The actual use of that clothesline will be entirely up to the new owner, but at least it is there, at least the idea that clothes lines are not prohibited will be banished.
Too many people will tell you that hung laundry is unsightly, embarrassing. To those one would respond that, given the onset of vast climatic change through global warming, we no longer have the time to worry about superficial prettiness, about what the neighbours may think, when we need to worry about the immediate reduction of energy use. The energy used by clothes dryers during the spring, summer and fall is inexcusable. While the city cannot legislate the use of clothes lines, their guidelines, sprinkled with a little public awareness, could make more residents comfortable with hanging their washing.
And while considering residential applications, why not have the developer give a choice to their clients, re. their front yards, as minuscule as they may be? Why cannot the aspiring homeowner be given the choice of a (non-exotic) lawn or a perennial bed? The benefits of the latter need hardly be explained to councillors with your background.
The world is changing, faster and faster. the above suggestions will not stop the runaway warming, but they might catch on in other municipalities, and this might begin as a tiny difference, but it may also pick up momentum so that the difference will grow. BH & HM