Photo by Christian Fickinger on Unsplash

In the U.S. every second 1100 loads of laundry are started but how many of us putting on these loads take the time to think about the impact that our laundry is having on the environment?

The water washing our clothes: Wheres does it come from? Where does it go?

The energy that is used to heat the water, spin our clothes, and heat the air drying our clothes: How is this energy produced?

The chemicals and detergent that are cleaning our clothes: Where do they end up?

When we are rushing to get the laundry in before Game of Thrones or before we have to pick up the kids it is unsurprising that we often don’t consider the environmental impact that our wash loads are having.

With this article, I hope to raise your awareness of this impact, get you thinking about ways to reduce it, and then challenge you to implement these changes and spread the word.

Photo by Thomas Millot on Unsplash

In 2005 in the U.S. alone, laundry processes used 847b gallons of water, 191TWh of electricity, and 225m tons of CO2 [1]

To put these figures in perspective that is equal to the amount of water that flows over the Niagara Falls every 11 days [2], the amount of electricity needed to power the entire US for 17 days [3], and the amount of CO2 emitted by 43 million cars per year [4].

Procter and Gamble estimate that the 2600lbs of laundry generated by the average American household per year equates to anywhere from 300–400 loads [5]. When you consider that there are 130m households in the U.S. [6] and you then look at the environmental impact of each load of laundry these large figures aren’t surprising.

Each load of laundry between washing and drying consumes:

25 gallons of water [7].

of water [7]. 9kWh of electricity [8, 9].

of electricity [8, 9]. 3.3kg of C02 [10].

Photo by Sergey Pesterev on Unsplash

Not only is the amount of water used per load concerning but so too are the contents of the outbound water and where it ends up. The chemicals from detergents can contain phosphates that enter aquatic systems leading to eutrophication and asphyxiation of aquatic life.

These chemicals along with the microfibers from our clothes can also be ingested by aquatic life and therefore possibly even by us, which could cause cancer and other birth defects [11].

Aside from the contaminants in this outbound water, for your next wash load, another 25 gallons has to be processed and pumped to your home adding to the already high carbon footprint of your laundry load.

The most energy-intensive process of this laundry load though is heating:

90% of the energy used by a washer goes toward just heating the water [11,12].

of the energy used by a washer goes toward just heating the water [11,12]. 49% of loads are run with warm water, 37% with cold water, and 14% with hot water [13].

of loads are run with warm water, with cold water, and with hot water [13]. 70% of the energy used by a 40⁰C wash in a combined washer-dryer goes toward drying the clothes afterward[10].

When 77.6% of American energy is still being provided by fossil fuels [14] it is clear that we need to take steps to not only reduce the environmental impact of each load but also the total number of loads we are running.

Here are 5 helpful tips to do this:

Run more full loads

A simple change but this alone will reduce your family’s carbon footprint by 45kg of CO2 per year [15].

2. Run more cold washes

With the cleaning power of today’s detergents, it is possible to get your clothes clean while using much colder temperatures. If every U.S. household used only cold water for washing clothes 34m tons of C02 would be saved every year [15].

3. Hang dry your clothes

When the weather permits use a washing line to dry your family’s laundry because this will save 320kg of CO2 and net you an extra $75 every year [15].

4. Use environmentally friendly detergents

The next time you are in the supermarket look out for labels that indicate that a detergent is biodegradable, phosphate-free, and made from plant/vegetable based ingredients. This will not only be better for the planet but these detergents are often gentler on your skin [15].

5. Get an Energy Star dryer

Washers that have earned the Energy Star rating use 10–20 gallons of water compared to the 30–35 gallons used by the standard washing machine [16]. If your current washer is more than 10 years old then switching to an Energy Star washer will save you $135 in utility bills per year [16], paying itself off in no time!

These 5 tips may seem like a no-brainer but often the problem is people aren’t aware of why they should change their laundry habits.

At Airfold, we are passionate about promoting the conservation of the environment in both the content we share and the products we create.

We have just launched the Airfold Towel Bar on KickStarter which uses a radically, unique design to keep towels fresh for more than 1 week without using any energy.

This should help you take your laundry savings to the next level and make an even greater step towards the betterment of our beautiful planet.