:: Revolutionary new device saves on home Energy ::

Being, or at least appearing to be environmentally conscious has taken hold in Canada and the US. It is inevitable that once you have a mindset shared by a significant number of people, politicians begin to take notice and of course being the capitalist society that we are, so does the business community. An entire industry is emerging, catering to the growing masses who are more likely to hug than cut down the hundred foot Oak leaning precariously over the kids bedrooms.

I am all for any efforts that result in the reduction of damage we are doing to the planet though I am often frustrated by the approaches and attitudes taken by many who purport themselves to be the new caretakers of mother earth.

The glass half full result of high gas prices is increased demand for more energy efficient and alternate sources of transportation. My car gets good gas mileage. I am not ready to stuff my 6'4" carcass in to a smart car that looks like it came from a Kinder egg but I am making efforts in other areas.

The energy efficient fluorescents light bulb will soon completely replace the incandescent bulb. I am just waiting for environmentalists or someone in a position of power to come to the realization that "hey, fluorescent bulbs contain mercury." That mercury turns to carcinogenic dust for us to breath when we break one on the kitchen floor and at some point millions upon millions of them will be spent and making their way into our landfill. I guess we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

I have wandered here. What I really wanted to do in this post was point out that in one hour a typical clothes dryer will negate the energy savings gained from using 20 energy/flourescent bulbs 24/7 for an entire month. One of the best energy efficient devices man invented hundreds of years ago and it has been cast aside for the sake of perceived style. The clothes line.

Many residential areas have restrictive covenants banning the use of clothes lines. These were put in place back in the day when people were more concerned with seeing Mrs. Jones bloomers on the line than they were with pollution or energy prices. Most of these rulings are still on the books today though most people are unaware.

Some might respond here by saying "I'm not hanging my clothes out in that dirty air". Guess what?, that air is cleaner now than it was 60 years ago when most of us were burning leaded fuel and many were burning their garbage and heating their homes with coal and oil. The bigger difference today is our pollution covers a much greater portion of the planet, including the polar regions.

What is wrong with using a clothes line? It has a Norman Rockwell kind of aura to it and if millions of Americans and Canadians were to use one for at least part of the year, think of the savings to our pockets and to our environment.

gimmeshelter.ca HotBarrieListings.com BarrieHomeworth.com mikemontague.com