Eco Washing Lines

Here are some really useful ideas to help reduce waste.

• Recycling Bins – Always have recycling bins available and labeled with the appropriate recycling stickers
• No More Plastic Grocery Bags – A reusable canvas shopping bag is a great alternative to plastic shopping bags that fill up the landfills.
• Reusable Water Bottles – Invest in a reusable water bottle and coffee mug. Save money while reducing waste in the landfills.
• Paperless Reading – Read books, magazines and newspapers on an iPad, Kindle or PC. Save the trees with eBooks and eReading Devices.
• Rechargeable Batteries – Save money and reduce waste buy using rechargeable batteries.
• Buy Recycled – Buy products made from recycled materials help you to save the planet while shopping
• Donate Clothing – Never throw out clothing! Donate old clothes to your local thrift stores.
• Bed Sheets – Use old sheets for drop clothes when painting
• Crafts – Recycle egg cartons, old Christmas cards and Kleenex boxes for craft supplies.

Here are some handy hints for getting the best results when drying your washing. Hoping that you will find this useful.

• Hang your laundry to dry whenever possible – it is better for your clothes and saves you money. There are many types of  washing lines for both  indoor and outdoor installation.
• Do not place too many items in the dryer - Just as the clothes need room to circulate in the washer to be cleaned completely, the clothes will need room to circulate in the dryer in order dry properly and to avoid wrinkling, especially permanent press and synthetic fabrics.
• Read care labels for proper drying temperatures.
• Always clean the lint filter before drying every load, for safety and efficiency.
• Do not over dry your clothing. Over drying causes your colors to fade, increases wrinkling and shrinkage. Try to fold your laundry right after the drying cycle has ended to minimize the need for ironing.
• Regarding Dryer Safety – Do not dry anything containing rubber on a heated setting. Do not put anything in the dryer that has been in contact with flammable chemicals, for example turpentine, acetone, cleaning solvents, wax, etc., until you know that the chemicals have been removed completely. To be safe – line dry these items.
• Even though many of the newer dryers have features for delicates, you should always hang items like bathing suits or bras (especially underwired) to dry.  Sweaters and some other items instruct you to “dry flat” or “reshape and dry flat” so you will need to either use a drying rack or a towel in order to maintain the item’s shape while air drying. Be sure to turn the item over during drying, to save drying time and circulate air evenly. Clothing that needs to be line dried should be removed from the washer as soon as possible in order to reduce wrinkling.

Let’s hope that this works and becomes widely available in the near future.

Toyota is planning to launch home battery chargers for plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles by the end of 2012. According to the company, the chargers will be compatible with any type of EV and will come in two types. One would be for setting up in a garage and the other would protrude from the exterior wall of a home.

Toyota hopes to sell around 30,000 units in the first year. Each electric car charger will have a price of about US$2,405 (200,000 yen), including installation costs.

The company also said it will start selling Prius-based plug-in hybrids by early 2012 mainly in Japan, Europe and the United States, expecting to have sales of more than 50,000 units a year.

Unlike a a conventional hybrid, the new Prius has the possibility of being plugged in to enable longer-distance driving using only electricity. The car is expected to cost as little as $36,072 (3 million yen in Japan).

Besides this, Toyota, 0ne of the world’s largest automakers will release a model based on the tiny iQ in the United States, Europe and Japan, also in 2012.

Whilst it is a good idea to fully fill your washing machine with dirty laundry before using it to save power and water,  you should not cram it to overflowing. The clothes will not get clean and you risk the machine overflowing and flooding your laundry. Follow the   instructions on the washing powder box – extra powder will not make your clothes cleaner and will just clog your machine.

Once your washing is done, consider hanging it up to dry on a washing line or airer, rather than using your clothes dryer all the time. This will save a lot of electricity and your laundry will smell really fresh.