It's been nearly a month since our dryer worked, so that's been a month of hanging clothes outside to dry (or inside on the few rainy days). I'd love to get the dryer fixed ASAP, especially since this warm weather isn't going to last much longer. Unfortunately, we're quite strapped for cash right now and can't exactly spring for the $100 or more the repair.

In the meantime, I guess I can feel good about doing my small part in living a little bit more green. The Daily Green has great ideas about how to reduce your impact on the environment when it comes to laundry. I was thrilled to see that we already do some of those things like using cold water for washing rather than warm (I do use hot to wash diapers, though). Apparently, 90 percent of the energy used washing clothes goes to heating the water.

Obviously, bypassing the dryer saves all of that energy that might have been used. Hanging clothes out in the sun also has the added benefit of the sun breaking down stains, so it's a great way to brighten and whiten clothes - especially noticeable with cloth diapers and staining. I'm also saving money on being fabric softener sheets. I only buy fragrance/dye free laundry products, which started when Cole was a baby and seemed to react to scented products. I also can't stand the smell. It's even helped as far as staying on top of laundry and not letting dirty and clean laundry pile up. The first thing I do in the morning is throw in a load of laundry so I can be sure to have it hung up and dry by midday. Then, of course, I want to use the laundry basket for hauling clothes in and out, so I have to put the clothes away fairly quickly. Very helpful for a rather disorganized housekeeper like myself.

And there you have it - my ode to drying clothes the old fashioned way.