so my apt building just put in new washers in the basement. they are supposed to be more green. they use less water, although they run longer. ideally you are supposed to use a special detergent. the downside is they are side loading, which sucks because everything drops on the filthy floor when you take it out and also they cost double what a wash used to cost ($2).

 

anyone have or use a new 'green' washer/dryer?

 

^I have and I don't have a problem with the side loading.  First because the "green" washer I use has a double door.  One door opens down to make a shelf like the typical dryer and then a porthole like door that makes the seal.  But I have used other side loading washers without the second door without too much trouble.  If I drop anything it's usually just a single sock.

It's been a few years since I used a laundromat, but don't you just put the laundry basket on the floor beneath the door when you open it? That way everything falls into the basket, then you can take the basket to whichever dryer is open.

unfortunately we have to use laundry bags, no room for a basket.

 

i wish the washers had a double door or ledge, but they dont. i keep dropping stuff i move to the dryer and anyway you have to bend way down real  low which is a pain. i liked top load much better -- someone said all the new green washers are side load for some reason (?)

 

oh you also have to buy a $5 smartcard, save it and 'top up' on it with $10 or $20 increments. no more quarters.

 

it's the talk of our buildings - heh.

 

oh well -- the laundry is green cleaned now, so thats a good thing!

 

...-Pet peeve of mine, from my time in the corrugated container industry:  Not using paper products is *not* "going green".  Virgin paper used in commerce, communication, or packaging comes from trees which are:

- grown as a crop.

- not killed during the harvesting process (as anyone who's ever had to remove a tree stump knows). 

Not according to National Geographic.  Canadian boreal forests are destroyed to make  "Christmas catalogs" and other "junk mail" that goes into the trash.

 

...

I personally refuse to use CFLs.  Break one, and you've got a nice toxic mercury spill that needs a hazmat team to clean it up and can't be cleaned from carpeting or furniture.  It's technically illegal to throw them in the trash.  They're made in China for a reason, the manufacturing makes a severe mess and the workers get sick.

...

Also not true

 

I am loathe to accept type 2 shopping bags because that plastic is hard to handle in the recycling stream.  I always have a reusable shopping bag in the car.  I have had one bag since 2004.  I received it as a gift and it says Sierra Club on it.

I just came aboutt his thread.  Alot of interesting points:

 

Air drying clothes on a laundry line is a great way to save energy.

 

You can use a solar panel outside to power anything you need such as a vacuum to do your car, radio, etc.

 

Also, i just read this in urban farm magazine...you can use a solar oven that will cook anything.  Google it.  Instead of heating your oven and possibly overheating your house, you cna sit outside in the summer and bake cookies, whatever and not use an ounce of energy.

 

 

i wish the washers had a double door or ledge, but they dont. i keep dropping stuff i move to the dryer and anyway you have to bend way down real  low which is a pain. i liked top load much better -- someone said all the new green washers are side load for some reason (?)

They use much less water because the tumble your clothes through a little puddle at the bottom instead of soaking them in a big tub and just agitating them and because they use less water, they also heat less water.

 

Also, i just read this in urban farm magazine...you can use a solar oven that will cook anything.  Google it.  Instead of heating your oven and possibly overheating your house, you cna sit outside in the summer and bake cookies, whatever and not use an ounce of energy

I tried building a solar oven over the summer out of stuff lying around the house (Old window pane, a couple of plastic tubs, balled up junk mail as insulation and a little duct tape) and got it up to about 250. Not hot enough for cookies, but made some awesome BBQ. (Just without the smoke).

A few years ago, I adopted the approach of "why drive when I can ride"...... now, that was more for exercise than for going green, but the effect is still the same.

 

My son also started school this year and his school requires everything sent in for lunch to be in reusable containers.  No juice boxes, brown paper bags, ziplock bags, etc.  A little annoying but I play along.

so my apt building just put in new washers in the basement. they are supposed to be more green. they use less water, although they run longer. ideally you are supposed to use a special detergent. the downside is they are side loading, which sucks because everything drops on the filthy floor when you take it out and also they cost double what a wash used to cost ($2).

 

anyone have or use a new 'green' washer/dryer?

 

Special detergent? You mean "HE" - or High Efficiency? It's commonly available and no more expensive than regular detergents, and all brands are pretty much 2x or 3x concentrated, so you shouldn't be using all that much fluid for your wash now - which is "green" - but in reality, it saves on packaging and shipping costs. The side loaders - I have a pair of high-end Samsung washer/dryer, are MUCH more efficient than the top loaders and from models that are even 5 years old. We compared the energy output of the Samsung to my parents top-loading washer, which was 5 years old, and there was about a 30% energy output reduction.

HE detergent is "low sudsing" , or so the appliance salesman told me.

A few years ago, I adopted the approach of "why drive when I can ride"...... now, that was more for exercise than for going green, but the effect is still the same.

 

My son also started school this year and his school requires everything sent in for lunch to be in reusable containers.  No juice boxes, brown paper bags, ziplock bags, etc.  A little annoying but I play along.

 

Very annoying, and useless to boot (see my post on commercially used packaging paper, and whatever is happening in Canada they aren't uprooting the trees).  Classic case of making a rule that only impacts other people in order to look like you are "doing something".  They're probably more interested in saving the money they pay to get rid of trash.

I only drive my Hummer H1 6 days a weeks instead of 7.

Very annoying, and useless to boot (see my post on commercially used packaging paper, and whatever is happening in Canada they aren't uprooting the trees).  ...

You mean this one.  Are you sure you are on the right forum?:

...-Pet peeve of mine, from my time in the corrugated container industry:  Not using paper products is *not* "going green".  Virgin paper used in commerce, communication, or packaging comes from trees which are:

- grown as a crop.

- not killed during the harvesting process (as anyone who's ever had to remove a tree stump knows). 

Not according to National Geographic.  Canadian boreal forests are destroyed to make  "Christmas catalogs" and other "junk mail" that goes into the trash.

 

...

I personally refuse to use CFLs.  Break one, and you've got a nice toxic mercury spill that needs a hazmat team to clean it up and can't be cleaned from carpeting or furniture.  It's technically illegal to throw them in the trash.

...

Also not true

Very annoying, and useless to boot (see my post on commercially used packaging paper, and whatever is happening in Canada they aren't uprooting the trees).  ...

You mean this one.  Are you sure you are on the right forum?:

...-Pet peeve of mine, from my time in the corrugated container industry:  Not using paper products is *not* "going green".  Virgin paper used in commerce, communication, or packaging comes from trees which are:

- grown as a crop.

- not killed during the harvesting process (as anyone who's ever had to remove a tree stump knows). 

Not according to National Geographic.  Canadian boreal forests are destroyed to make  "Christmas catalogs" and other "junk mail" that goes into the trash.

 

...

I personally refuse to use CFLs.  Break one, and you've got a nice toxic mercury spill that needs a hazmat team to clean it up and can't be cleaned from carpeting or furniture.  It's technically illegal to throw them in the trash.

...

Also not true

 

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2010/09/13/canadian_boreal_forest_agreeme/

 

Sounds like they've reached an agreement.

 

The norm in the US paper products industry is to grow and harvest your own trees.  In Canada it was likely different because of the very vastness of the forests.  In any case, unless they were pulling up roots they were not destroying forests or killing trees.

A few years ago, I adopted the approach of "why drive when I can ride"...... now, that was more for exercise than for going green, but the effect is still the same.

 

My son also started school this year and his school requires everything sent in for lunch to be in reusable containers.  No juice boxes, brown paper bags, ziplock bags, etc.  A little annoying but I play along.

 

Very annoying, and useless to boot (see my post on commercially used packaging paper, and whatever is happening in Canada they aren't uprooting the trees).  Classic case of making a rule that only impacts other people in order to look like you are "doing something".  They're probably more interested in saving the money they pay to get rid of trash.

 

Yes, it was annoying and yes, it does not have a 'profound' impact.  However, it's silly to put the school in the grand global warming conspiracy bandwagon.  There's no grand conspiracy by the white man to 'hold the black man down.'  There is no grand conspiracy to eliminate Christmas (or at least there hasn't been since the time of the pilgrims).  And there is no conspiracy by environmentalists to do anything other than genuinely try to make the earth a better (or, more accurately, 'cleaner') place to live for all of us.  They aren't trying to take away your guns and bibles (although they probably do want your Hummer confiscated).  They just want to encourage good practices.  The school could give two sh!tes about disposal costs.  They place going 'green' ahead of costs, which is why the major new wing they constructed a few years back was all LEED certified.... surely at a much greater expense than traditional construction.  They really view the prohibition on bagged lunches as a teaching lesson to their students that will stick with them as they grow into adults.  I like that even if it makes my job a little more tedious.  It was the three page handout they sent home explaining this policy which I suppose I found to be the real annoyance.

My employer is transitioning to "zero landfill" practices, and it is not because of "saving the money they pay to get rid of trash".  I know.  I am on the recycling team.

 

We are adopting corn-based utensils in the company cafeteria that can be ground up and composted.

so my apt building just put in new washers in the basement. they are supposed to be more green. they use less water, although they run longer. ideally you are supposed to use a special detergent. the downside is they are side loading, which sucks because everything drops on the filthy floor when you take it out and also they cost double what a wash used to cost ($2).

 

anyone have or use a new 'green' washer/dryer?

 

Special detergent? You mean "HE" - or High Efficiency? It's commonly available and no more expensive than regular detergents, and all brands are pretty much 2x or 3x concentrated, so you shouldn't be using all that much fluid for your wash now - which is "green" - but in reality, it saves on packaging and shipping costs. The side loaders - I have a pair of high-end Samsung washer/dryer, are MUCH more efficient than the top loaders and from models that are even 5 years old. We compared the energy output of the Samsung to my parents top-loading washer, which was 5 years old, and there was about a 30% energy output reduction.

 

actually i am finding HE detergent is more expensive, not to mention the raised prices per wash with the new machines, but my question is since you did this research what is it exactly that makes side load style such a more energy efficent design than top load style? that i dont get.

 

By fixing infiltration, installing insulation and buying new windows, we reduced our gas consumption from 5.6 therms/month to 4.1 therms/month*

 

*average consumption over 12 months, according to the data on our gas bill