Clean Energy, Happy Earth

This weekend I put up a clothes-line in our basement.  And I'm really surprised I haven't done this before.  For some reason, I always had this slight doubt that clothes would actually dry naturally in a damp climate, even though I've seen it happen and have practiced line-drying when on vacation in other wet environments such as southern Ireland.  Overnight is all it takes.  Well, three laundry loads later, I'm a total clothes-line convert.  There's something so enjoyable, so mindful and connected, about hanging up the clothes.  I already have an obsession with clothes-pins:  they're this house-wife's version of duct-tape, a universally useful tool.  Finally, I'm using them for they're intended purpose!  

And on a similar note, today I signed us up with our local power supplier to purchase Clean Wind each month to offset our energy usage.  One unit = 200 kilowatt hours (kWh) of new wind generation in the NW.  200 kWh is actually more than our average monthly usage, so I feel pretty darn good about this.  We already purchase Green Source in addition to our basic service rates - "Under this option, 100 percent of your electricity use is offset with renewable energy. In 2009, the mix for this product came from approximately 82 percent new wind, 11 percent new biomass (wood waste) and 7 percent new geothermal energy."  I'm so stoked to contribute my share (a few dollars, at that)!   

I guess you could call this my "One Small Change" for April, even though I haven't kept up each month since January.  It's the least I can do for my lovely planet, just in time for Earth Day!