Blog entries

Anne Lawrence: Clothesline Hobbyist and Historian

Alexander Lee — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:13:22 +0100

The following is the first in a series of autobiographical and biographical sketches about Project Laundry List volunteers. Anne Lawrence is a clothesline hobbyist and historian who has given dozens of talks to community groups:

Among my fondest memories as a young girl are those of my mother and grandmother hanging the wash outdoors on clotheslines, while I had the grown-up job of ‘clothespin handler.’ I loved watching the laundry flapping in the breezes, and I sensed the Read More...

Venice Bienniale: Maldives Clothesline Project

Alexander Lee — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 22:04:08 +0100

Greg Niemeyer will be working with Project Laundry List in the coming month to produce a project at the Venice Bienniale about what clotheslines will look like after sea levels rise in the Maldives. Stay tuned for more information. We are involving old friend of Project Laundry List, Michael Dorsey of Wesleyan University, and new board of directors' member, Marian Dioguardi. Project Laundry List's first donor was artist Sabra Field, who has extensive experience in Italy. We have approached heRead More...

Back in the saddle

Alexander Lee — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 22:37:54 +0100

As most of my readers know, in 1995, when I was an undergraduate at Middlebury College, the speaker at a peace symposium that I had organized, Dr. Helen Caldicott, gave a speech. In the company of my high school mentors, Bud and Barbara James,Read More...

Hanging Out in Australia: Apparatus for Drying Clothes - Researchers in Australia sneak a look ...

Sheila Kitts — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 13:36:58 +0100

by Cas Middlemas

In Australia the use of rotary clothes hoists to dry laundry outdoors is so well-established that many consider this piece of backyard equipment a part of our cultural history, to the point that it has developed an iconic status. The clothes hoist was used in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games ceremony and has been prominenRead More...

Hanging Out in England

Kate Copsey — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 17:38:23 +0100

Project Laundry has a monthly newsletter filled with information for those of us who prefer to hang laundry rather than use an electric dryer. Sign up for the newsletter to get your copy which, this month, includes this short article.

Hanging Out In Britain

A country that is notorious for damp cold weather and small gardens is not what most people would think of as a perfect place to hang laundry out, yet in Britain as in many other European countries, most people do hang laundRead More...

The 10.10.2010 Miraculous Clothesline Revival

Sheila Kitts — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 15:13:24 +0100

When people here in the U.S. think of solar power, often the first thing that comes to mind is the costly and mysterious system of panels and batteries they imagine they’ll need to run standard household appliances and electronic gadgets. This misconception is convenient for the fossil fuel industry, which depends on our continued reliance on theRead More...

PRODUCT REVIEW: The Ezyline (a Pegless Laundry Line)

Sheila Kitts — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 15:04:21 +0100

For me, hanging out my laundry isn’t just practical—it’s emotional. My posts were dug and my lines tied by my dad, my pegs were taken from my grandmother’s old line on the family farm, and my peg bag was lovingly hand-sewn by my mother.

But for those who don’t have those emotional attachments, there are laundry line options. One of thosRead More...

Yes you can dry outside when you have snow!

Kate Copsey — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:15:10 +0100

This has been something that intrigued me for a long time. I had memories of frozen items coming in from the washing line, and, after ironing, were 'aired' on a rack or radiator. So I have been experimenting with the idea.
The first time was a set of sheets that I put outside. It was cloudy, but alas the partlyRead More...

Drying in Winter

Kate Copsey — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:15:43 +0100

For some reason I have always dried things outside in clear weather but never thought about doing it inside. The idea of damp laundry all over the house, was not appealing. In Georgia for the most part I could dry outside all year round anyway so that was not an issue.
Then we moved back to Ohio which has winter.
The basement in the house is unfinished, and has a short double line in the laundry area. I have found that putting shirts and jeans on these two lines dries the clothing iRead More...

A Valentine for Your Clothesline

Sheila Kitts — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 21:26:49 +0100

Show us your clothesline love!

In honor of Valentine's Day, write us and let us know why you love to hang out! Submissions will be featured on our web page and in our newsletter, Hangin' Out! Please email your submission (and a photo of you with your clothesline would be great!) to skitts@laundrylist.org by January 31st. Happy hanging!

A Time for Reflection

Alexander Lee — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 12:04:02 +0100

Thank you. This is a time of reflection for me. I know that I will not be done with this work tomorrow or on Monday. It is my Life Work, the title of a lovely short book by Donald Hall, the former poet laureate of the United States who lives in New Hampshire. Nevertheless, as I enter this new phase, there is much to contemplate. Most of all I am gratefulRead More...

Follow the Waking Green Dragon

Alexander Lee — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 16:02:34 +0100

As many of you know, I will be leaving my post as Executive Director for Project Laundry List on Dec. 31, traveling to Changchun, Jilin Province, CHINA in February, and taking up as a teacher of English. If you wish to follow my travels, please visit www.waking-green-dragon.com and sign up for updates.

I will be reporting on the status of consumerism and learning about energy issues in my free time. I hope that you will stay engaged.

hydro-Power

Alexander Lee — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 09:04:30 +0100

hydro-Power

for the liquidated

Yes, he thinks he needs more power.

Dear Mr. Will,

As a child in the early 1980s, I would rush to get my Newsweek from the mail and read with glee Meg Greenfield on the back page, but also George Will. I particularly liked George Will, even though I have never cared for baseball or sports generally, which is no doubt a testament to the weakness of my character and my general brokenness as a patriot and maybe even as a Christian.

For months, I have beenRead More...

Enough with the solar panels already!

Alexander Lee — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 06:59:03 +0100

It is hard for me to make sense of the well-meaning environmentalists, running around excitedly that President of the United States and the Governor of Illinois are installing solar panels. There is no doubt that we need to produce our energy in a different way. Even an old set of solar panels from the Jimmy Carter era are better than a coal plant. It is true that we need to keep apace with the Chinese to remain competitive on renewables development, but, I am sorry, as symbolic gestures go, Read More...

Trick or Treat!

Alexander Lee — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0100

36 million

The estimated number of potential trick-or-treaters in 2009 — children 5 to 13 — across the United States. This number is up about 190,000 from a year earlier. Of course, many other children — older than 13, and younger than 5 — also go trick-or-treating.
Source: 2009 population estimates <http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb10-81.html>.

111.3 million

Number of occupied housing units across the nation in 2009 — all potential stopsRead More...

Concord to Canton: A Trial Run

Alexander Lee — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 16:01:22 +0100

Over the last ten days, I pedaled about 600 miles. I woke up on Saturday the 18th and meandered over to Rollins Park in Concord, NH, to do a 25-mile bike ride in honor of my parents (both cancer survivors, who lost four friends in eleven days last month to cancer) and in honor of my dear friend, Martin Capodice, who is struggling with a rare type of this ubiquitous affliction.

I flew around the course on my electric assist bicycle, which is on loan to me through the conclusion of the 2Read More...

The British ARE NOT Telling Residents to Remove Clotheslines

Alexander Lee — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 08:06:29 +0100

This is the kind and thoughtful letter we received in response to our request that the citizens of Croydon not be kept from hanging their clothes. Croydon is a part of the city of London.

Dear Alexander Lee,

Thank you for emailing us about our reported intention as a landlord to stop residents drying their clothes outside. I do not know how this came to your attention in the first place (but it’s great toRead More...

My Clothesline in Windy Nova Scotia

Cindy Etter-Turnbull — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:49:52 +0100

Hurricane Earl just whipped through my backyard and left a path of branches and debris. Ever high and watchful, my dependable clothesline battled the extreme winds and teeming rain, thusly giving way to another dawn of a more blissful and harmonious affair with nature. Many in Nova Scotia are without power and could be for quite some time. I trust they have a clothesline to rely on during these disruptive and unpredictable elecRead More...

The Clothesline Economy

Rob Dietz — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:55:44 +0100

by Rob Dietz

“It’s the economy, stupid!”

In 1992, Bill Clinton’s successful campaign to become the President of the United States hinged on this juvenile catchphrase. Voters believed that Clinton might do a better job managing the U.S. economy than George Bush, Sr. had done over the course of his term. The economy (or more specifically the status of the economy) has the power to change heads of state, alter the fate of nations, and secure the well-beRead More...