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It is way past time to push people to wash with cold water. Washing with cold water saves almost as much energy as using a clothesline. Join the Cold War!
According to Tide, one can save up to 80% of energy per load by washing in cold. This is based on conversion from warm/cold to cold/cold cycle and using a vertical axis machine with electric water heater set at 140º F.
You might be interested in a Time Magazine piece which reports, "A recent study by Cambridge University's Institute of Manufacturing found that 60% of the energy associated with a piece of clothing is spent in washing and drying it. Over its lifetime, a T-shirt can send up to 9 lbs. of carbon dioxide into the air."
According to Amory Lovins and the Rocky Mountain Institute, this is the Electricity Consumption, Cost, and CO2 Emissions of the Clothes Washer & Electric Dryer:
Appliance | Electricity
kWh/yr | Cost
$/yr | CO2 emitted | | Clothes washer (incl. hot water) | 1,080 | 86 | 1,544 | | Clothes washer (excl. hot water) | 99 | 8 | 142 | | Clothes dryer | 1,060 | 85 | 1,516 |
A $1 rebate for cold water detergent worked in Canada! Suggest that your utility follow the Electric or Gas Savings by Switching to Cold program's lead.
 "Well dressed? The present and future sustainability of clothing and textiles in the United Kingdom"
The Sustainable Manufacturing Group is part of the Institute for Manufacturing at Cambridge University. This report from them presents the outcome of a five person-year study conducted at the Institute for Manufacturing on the future supply of clothing and textiles to the UK. The bulk of the work of the project was a scenario analysis of various future means to meet the UKs demand for clothing and textiles. The scenarios were developed with three case study products, and analyzed according to the "triple bottom line", including environmental life cycle costs, calculation of national accounts and prediction of employment changes.
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