It started with a sturdy cotton rope and a couple of screw in hooks. As I pulled the line taught, tying it as tight as I could, I had no idea how these simple tools would change me. At first, I thought it was going to pull my own inward line too tight, add too much work to an already frazzled schedule of parenting and homeschooling five kids. All of which are under the age of eight and generate a lot of laundry. I was nervous and apprehensive.

Which is how many things seem at first when they're new, untried, fresh.

I pulled the damp load of laundry out of the washer, slung it in a basket and brought my little tote of clips outside in the sweltering Florida sun to hang my very first load of laundry. One by one, I hung my cloth diapers on the line. I was skeptical at first, thinking my new idea wouldn't last. But, as I moved and flowed with the rhythm of hanging our belongings outside to dry, I didn't feel the work. I didn't notice the time. Tension, I hadn't realized I held, eased. I relaxed and enjoyed the motions, letting my mind drift where it would.

Company launches $10,000 green design contest; submit your entries at www.levi.com/care from June 1 - July 31, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO (May 18, 2010) — Levi Strauss & Co. is asking consumers to let all their good green laundry ideas hang out. Starting on June 1, green pioneers and inventors can submit original air-drying solutions as part of the company’s “Care to Air” contest, with the chance to win $10,000 in prizes. The company is looking for the next generation of air drying design ideas that will improve or replace the typical clothesline. Design ideas will be accepted from June 1- July 31, 2010, and winners will be announced on August 16. Full contest details are available on www.levi.com/care.

According to Levi Strauss & Co.’s research about the lifecycle of its core products, line drying is one of the best ways consumers can reduce the climate change impact of their clothes. However, line drying clothes has become a thing of the past in America, as 92 percent of U.S. households have a dryer, according to Project Laundry List.

I took this photo about a year ago and posted it to my blog, not long after hanging my two vintage retractable clothes lines. I was happy to start drying my clothes outdoors, and actually, was pretty nostalgic about the whole thing. I snapped the photo of my daughter playing peek-a-boo in the sheets, remembering doing the same as a child. I wanted to be more environmentally responsible, but was this more than I could handle? I had my lists of pros and cons and the dryer seemed a tough nemesis to beat. I was at the beginning of a new habit, wondering if I could stick to it, or if the burning Texas sun would force me to chicken out.

Well, it's a year later and the clothes lines are still there, as well as a line prop and a full basket of clothes pins. Ever day that it is not raining, there is a load of laundry on the lines. My laundry and I have triumphed over the Texas heat and the lure of the dryer. There has been more added to the laundry routine: I now make my own detergent. Economy and environment have won in our household.

Is it more time and effort to hang the laundry out? Yes. Do the benefits outweigh the trouble of it? Let me assure you, it's no trouble at all to keep life simple and to have moments like these in your life.

WHAT IF THERE IS NO CLIMATE/ENERGY BILL? CIVIL SOCIETY INSTITUTE REPORT FROM SYNAPSE SHOWS CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE STILL POSSIBLE FOR U.S.

With Uncertainty Mounting About Climate/Energy Bill, Major New Study for CSI Details, Path for Breaking Away From "Business As Usual" in the Electric Power Sector.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - What happens if Congress fails to pass a climate or energy bill in 2010? Even without a federal carbon policy, the United States could move from the "business as usual" status quo to a dramatically cleaner and healthier approach to meeting its electrical power needs, according to a major new report from the nonprofit and nonpartisan Civil Society Institute think tank. The report was prepared by Synapse Energy Economics of Cambridge, MA.