As amazing as it may sound, around 60 million Americans cannot hang dry their clothes and must instead use an electric tumble dryer. That surprising statement inspired British filmmaker Steven Lake, who directed an incredible documentary called “Drying for Freedom”. When you live in California or any sunny region of the globe, it would be foolish not to use a clothesline to dry your laundry. But in many states of the United States, community associations forbid clotheslines for many reasons (mostly for “ugliness”).
As a result, we all know what kind of negative externalities we can expect : carbon and GHG emissions, energy bills and so on and so forth. Not to mention that an electric tumble dryer is the appliance that rejects the largest amount of kg CO2 (159/year). In Verona, Mississippi a man was shot following an argument about a clothesline. Putting humans’ lives at stake only for a piece of furniture seems exaggerate. In this trailer we can see how Americans have been encouraged to use electric appliances over the years, especially in the post-WWII period where President Ronald Reagan himself was advertising for General Electric. The fact is that, now, they should do the opposite (no offense to M. Reagan).
Steven Lake, in a carbon neutral journey across the globe, tries to expose the truth about the “clotheslines debate”. Being banned from living environmentally conscious lives was too much for him, that’s why he decided to take action. The film wants to reveal how the electric heritage has led to restrictions of freedom and an un-environmental way of life.
As Mr. Lake would say : “our future is hanging on the line !”
Official Trailer: https://vimeo.com/36605168