As of late, I have been undergoing through thorough training along with the rest of our department regarding the very popular and important concept of environmental sustainability. First module from last week we learned about the world as of today, its conditions, and all the problems that caused all the pollution and the signs that the earth would be dying out of its resources. For next week we’ll be covering industrial ecology and biomimicry.

At our company intranet this article came out regarding the best tips on doing your laundry (most especially your denim jeans). As I read through I started thinking about my habits with my own laundry (in my house, each of us do our own laundry. I do my own laundry, Mom does hers and Dad’s laundry, bro does his own laundry, etc. etc.). We only got one washing machine that’s almost ten years old but still works.

When I do my laundry I usually separate my clothes based on the color, fabric, and the water temperature required to wash these types of clothes. When one particular clothing— example, a wool sweater— is minimal compared to the rest of the clothes in the pile I still wash them separate because of the care instructions on the label. Otherwise if it has similar care instructions as another particular category of clothes, I just place them with the rest of those clothes.

Though it may sound like I’m wasting water to do these small and separate washes in one load of laundry, what wastes more water mainly depends on how many times you do your laundry. Believe it or not, even if it may sound dirty, I do my laundry once every two weeks (unless if they’re seriously stained, such as blood or food and what not). As for jeans I wear them until they seriously stink (and of course, when they get dirty). It sounds gross (even I get grossed out too), but my habits (according to the experts in my department) is considered “green laundry care”. What I’m doing with my clothes may be disgusting, but I’m saving a lot of water by doing this way. They still come out freshly clean and smell good (from the detergent— depending on the type of detergent (or fabric softener) you use) after they’re laundered anyway so there’s not much difference between clean clothing washed every two weeks compared to clean clothing washed every other day or twice or three times a week.

Read the article I just linked. You’ll see what I mean. It can help you save a lot of water, which in turn you’ll be getting in the habit of being environmentally sustainable in your household. Time is running out for the earth’s resources so we seriously need to think about the environment seriously now and how we can change our habits in order to be more environmentally sustainable.

Hm, now that I realized it, I just remembered that not all the world do their laundry by themselves. Some households in some countries have someone else do the laundry for them (ie. servants, domestic help, etc). This article only refers to people who do their own laundry without any aid from servants or domestic helpers or anyone similar. Personally I’d rather do my own laundry because I can’t trust other people on how they do other people’s laundry. Maybe it’s your turn to learn how to use the washing machine (or wash your clothes manually haha!) one of these days and learn how to be more independent and useful to yourself?

• Current Location: Work (Levi Strauss & Co.)
• Currently Eating: Sobe Lifewater Cherimoya (Atis) Punch
• Currently Listening: Pandora Radio Doo-Wop Channel
• Mood: Sleepy

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