Ready to make some changes that go beyond recycling, shorter showers, and taking the light rail?
There’s one household chore where a different approach can lower water usage, electricity consumption, and the spread of microplastics in one fell swoop. You guessed it: laundry!
With one wash needing 20 gallons of water and dryers accounting for 5% of home energy bills, a sustainable laundry routine is a game changer. It not only lowers your personal impact on the planet—it can also save you money.
Keep reading to learn how to create your very own eco-friendly laundry system.
Green and Clean: How to Master a Sustainable Laundry Routine
Change Your Laundry Detergent
Leading commercial laundry detergents may feel familiar and smell incredible, but despite their popularity, they have some serious pitfalls. On top of containing harsh chemicals that can trigger skin sensitivities and damage clothing, they pollute the planet in two main ways.
First, they fill laundry washing machine water with phosphates, chlorine bleach, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, and other non-biodegradable ingredients. After a cycle, this water is leaked into groundwater after draining. Second, when you throw away a detergent bottle with leftover liquid, the residual chemicals cause pollution during disposal.
To avoid this fate for your detergent, consider switching to a sustainable detergent! This blog covers a step-by-step guide for creating your own biodegradable detergent.
For an extra eco-friendly laundry routine, swap out those single-use dryer sheets with a homemade dryer ball. Click here to learn how!
Adjust Your Cycle Settings and Process
Next, let’s take a look at how you’re loading and using your machines. An ideal sustainable laundry routine includes:
Washing your clothes less often. Fewer loads mean less consumption! This handy guide outlines when to wash specific garments, and this blog can help you replace entire loads with simple stain removal.
Selecting cold water temperatures. Believe it or not, you don’t actually need hot water for most loads. Cold water still cleans contaminated clothing, and research shows that choosing cold can lower your personal carbon footprint by 10%.
Opting for line drying. Want to reduce your home’s annual energy bill by up to 5%? Stop using your dryer, especially on hotter settings! Line drying isn’t as hard as you’d think—here’s how to master it, even in Denver’s cold weather.
Switch to a Laundromat
Finally, consider a change of setting for laundry days at your local laundromat. Because they specialize in cleaning high volumes of clothing without running up their own utility bills, sustainability and efficiency are already top of mind.
Many laundromats only have energy-efficient machines and take careful measures to dispose of waste responsibly. Plus, using a laundromat means you don’t have to eat up your own hot water and electricity!
Ready to find your closest Denver laundry professionals? Visit www.denverwashandfold.com to learn more about our services, or click here to schedule a Denver laundry pickup and delivery service.
