Project Laundry List, one of our favorite environmental non-profits in New Hampshire, recently held a “A Touch of Color” clothesline competition in Concord.  This was the first year of the annual competition and 14 businesses participated, including our Goodwill store in Concord!

The purpose of the competition is to install creative window displays with clotheslines, educating the local  community of the many “green” benefits of clothesline drying.  We have written about clothesline drying in past blog posts, but here are some more facts we learned:

1. Dryers use 6-10% of total residential energy use.

2. Americans use more energy on drying their laundry than Africans uses on all their consumption needs.

3. Some communities prohibit clotheslines, ostensibly, for aesthetic reasons.

4. Hang drying your laundry is better on your wallet and on the environment

5. For many people, hanging out clothes is a therapeutic activity.

6. There are numerous different sizes and styles of drying rack/lines available for individual needs and accommodations.

7. April 19 is National Hanging Out Day, a day of recognition and celebration for hang drying.

8. Alex Lee, Executive Director of Project Laundry List lives in Concord, NH

We look forward to participating in the competition again next year!  Enjoy the pictures below!

I read about some pretty cool green happenings this week in New Hampshire and Vermont…check ‘em out!

New Hampshire

The Green Alliance and Haley Farm Art Gallery in Kittery, Maine, is hosting its first Green Expo, called “Green Business in the Community.” It is happening tomorrow, Saturday, June 13, from 11 am to 3 pm at Haley Farm Art Gallery.  I think I might go down and check it out myself!  It is a free event and it will offer a glimpse of the latest green technologies, from biofuels to solar energy to green clothing businesses (yes!).  There will also be lots of great environmental art on display.  You can read more about the event on Seacoast Online.

Vermont

We wrote a blog post awhile ago about Project Laundry List, a NH-based organization that advocates for line-drying to save energy costs and extend the life of clothes.  I was pretty excited to read that the Vermont State Legislature passed H.446 last week, which, according to the article in Seven Days, prohibits anyone from “banning solar collectors, clotheslines or other energy devices based on renewable resources.”

Apparently, local municipalities could outlaw line-drying before this bill passed, so congratulations to Vermont: you can now line dry your laundry without worry!

Alright, Vermont!

For all our readers in New Hampshire, this is from Project Laundry List, a non-profit based in NH who is working to make “air-drying laundry acceptable and desirable as a simple and effective way to save energy.”

We have highlighted Project Laundry List in a previous entry and we really like this new art exhibit they are promoting in the Steeplegate Mall in Concord, NH.  The exhibit is displayed at Gallery One in Nashua.

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Here is the article from Project Laundry List:

The Electric Clothesline Ready for Spring Display

Exhibit will connect energy use with energy supply

Concord, NH – The Electric Clothesline exhibit, created and built by artist Matt St.Onge, will be on display in the rotunda near BonTon at the Steeplegate Mall from March 6th until April 3rd.

The Electric Clothesline is a scaled down version of standard power lines. It shows the correlation between drying clothes and where the energy comes from. The power transformer is made from a stainless steel, foot-pedal trash can. Its partially open lid alludes to, and warns of, our partially damaged environment.

The three power lines represent a family. A mother, father, and daughter each have their own powerline/clothesline.

The exhibit is designed to simply reinforce awareness of the effect that power production with gas, oil, and coal has on our environment. It is yet another reminder to seek renewable energy sources, and hopefully, it is interpreted in a subtle and respectful way.

By simply looking up in the air, The Electric Clothesline was inspired while driving through Penacook, NH. The power lines looked like giant clotheslines in the sky. A connection was made that to operate a clothes dryer; the power must first be transmitted through these lines. This led to questions that we are all facing today about our energy production.

“I’m going to miss having The Electric Clothesline in my living room.” Said Matt. “The best part is inviting people over to see my art. They look over, around, and through the piece trying to find my art… only to realize, Oh my God! I thought you were drying your clothes! This IS the art!”

About Matt St.Onge

For two seasons, Matt has searched for an art medium to work with. As a member of the Manchester Artists Association, as well as attending countless museums and galleries, he found a calling.

With a background in mechanical design, it’s natural for Matt to design and build artwork of a 3D nature. Dubbed “Home Depot Art”, Matt loves to merge basic building materials into items that convey a message.

The next project is titled The Invisible Trees exhibit. It is a multi-item showing that portrays a vivid contrast between “invisible” trees and the colorful man-made objects that we attach to trees. A mild funding source is needed.

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Makesa Creations, 37 Alice Drive, Suite 31, Concord, NH 03303, (603) 769-7491 MatthewStonge@Yahoo.com