6 Best Laundry Practices to Save Money and Earth Friendly

Laundry is an essential task, but it requires immense amounts of energy and water. The good news is you can easily green your laundry routine using simple habits that are better for the planet and your wallet.
In this article we'll explore 6 tips to reduce the environmental impact of doing your laundry while saving on electricity and water costs.

Table of contents:

• Wash with Cold water

• Run Full Loads

• Use an Eco Friendly Detergent

• Let Clothes air dry

• Wash less frequently

• Go for an efficient washer

• Summary
  

Tip 1: Wash with Cold Water

Heating water makes up over 90% of the total energy used for washing clothes. Just switching your washer's main wash cycle to cold can make your laundry far greener.

Washing with cold water reduces the carbon footprint of one load of laundry by over 1 kg of CO2 (3 lbs of CO2)greenhouse gas emissions. Yearly, it can prevent hundreds of kgs of carbon pollution per household. Plus, your utility company states washing in cold water saves up to 75% on electricity, or around $60 annually.

Tip 2: Run Full Loads

It's tempting to throw small piles of clothes into the washer as needed. But each partial or empty wash cycle squanders electricity and water while generating unnecessary carbon emissions.

Strive to accumulate full loads before running your washing machine to maximize its efficiency. Wait until you have enough dirty clothes to completely fill the washer drum. This ensures every wash cycle does a maximum amount of laundry with the minimum required resources.

Tip 3: Use an Eco-Friendly Detergent

Majority of conventional detergents include colors, synthetic fragrances and harmful chemicals that can have negative health effects on your body but also the environment when washed down the drain. Choose eco friendly laundry detergent instead, that use natural biodegradable ingredients, that won't pollute water with harsh chemicals.

Tip 4: Let Clothes Air Dry

Clothes dryers account for a massive 6% of residential energy consumption. Skipping the dryer and line drying clothes naturally is one of the best ways to reduce your laundry's electricity usage and carbon footprint. In addition, dryers are responsible for generating 40 times more microfibers into the air, most of them being microplastics which are harmful for the environment and us. Air drying laundry saves over 318 kg (700 pounds) of CO2 yearly for the average household. It also helps clothes last longer by avoiding damage from dryer heat and static cling. Set up a drying rack or clothesline to effortlessly let gravity dry your laundry for free!

Tip 5: Wash Less Frequently

Laundering clothes after just a couple of wears when they often aren't very dirty leads to extra carbon emissions. Consider airing out clothes between washes and spot clean any stains to freshen them.

Washing garments every 3-4 wears rather than every 2 wears can easily reduce your laundry's carbon impact by 15%. Less frequent laundering also helps fabrics last longer, which means you can better maintain your clothes and not let it shrink over time.

Tip 6: Go for an Efficient Washer

When your washing machine needs replacing, invest in an ENERGY STAR certified model which uses 15-25% less energy and 35% less water. Front-loading washers also require less water compared to top-loaders.

Efficient washers cost more upfront but pay for themselves within a few years thanks to utility bill savings. On average, ENERGY STAR washers save $40 per year on utility costs, with eco friendly benefits from using fewer resources as well.

Summary:

Doing laundry greener benefits the environment and your budget. These eco-friendly laundry tips such as washing in cold, air drying and running full loads can reduce your carbon footprint by hundreds of pounds annually. Put them into practice to save energy, water and money with every load of laundry!

Sources:

1. Energy.gov

2. C2ccertified

3. EIA

4. EPA

5. Mashsable

6. Energystar

7. Consumperreports

8. Prohousekeepers