Earth Day Laundry Room Hack
As you guys should know by now, April is Earth Month so today I wanted to share a post about my laundry room space and a simple switch I've made that can make a big difference when it comes to your environmental impact...
Firstly, let's talk about our laundry closet. One of the features we first fell in love with in our house was the upstairs laundry room. Although the room is more of a closet, it's definitely more spacious than we first thought it would be before we opened the doors and it's an incredibly functional space. We love that we have great storage, hanging and counter space for practicality.
The biggest decision to make in this area were the appliances. We wanted high efficiency front load appliances and as the other appliances we selected were Samsung, we decided to stick with one brand so we chose this pair from The Brick. A few of the selling features for us was the extra large capacity (fewer bigger loads is how we like to do our laundry, and I love that we can fit all of our bedding in one go into the washer and dryer!), the self cleaning cycle and the VRT (Vibration Reduction Technology) which was a big selling feature as we didn't want the washer and dryer moving around too much or being too noisy as our bedroom is right next to the laundry.
The other features we loved were some of the environmental ones (perfect to bring attention to during Earth Month!). These units are Energy Star qualified and the Sensor Dry Function can help cut down on the energy used which was a feature we loved! The sensor dry function will automatically adjust your drying cycle according to the moisture in the clothes in the dryer. This means that if you put your dryer cycle on for 40 minutes but the clothes were dry in 30, that the dryer would automatically shut off to save energy, how great is that?!
Now, in addition to talking a bit about our appliances and sharing our laundry space I thought I'd also share a little 'Green DIY' in honor of Earth Month. This simple swap can make a huge difference when it comes to your environmental impact in regards to your laundry. A few years ago I stopped buying dryer sheets and switched over to wool dryer balls. There are a ton of reasons why you might want to consider dropping the dryer sheets and laundry softener, a few of them being:
-Dryer sheets and fabric softeners contain ingredients that can irritate those with asthma and allergies and the chemicals that coat your clothes from these can actually cause asthma to develop in otherwise healthy people
-The chemicals used to create the fragrances in most dryer sheets are often hormone disruptors and harmful chemicals
-Dryer sheets contain carcinogens that coat our clothes with chemicals and vent out into the air and further harm the environment
-Dryer sheets are single use products that are wasteful
Wool dryer balls on the other hand...
-Eco friendly, dryer balls are made of one only one material, 100% wool so there are no added chemicals or harmful substances to yourself, your clothes or the environment
- Re-usable and last over 1000+ washes (I've had mine for four years and they show no signs of stopping)
- Affordable, I only own four wool dryer balls that I ordered online for less than $20, over the years you'll save lots of $ by not having to buy dryer sheets and being able to reuse wool dryer balls for years
- Dryer balls actually act as a fabric softener as they tumble around in your dryer. They separate and lift laundry, increasing air flow that helps to cut down on static and reduce drying time. Therefore, our dryer senses the cycle finishing earlier and this helps to save energy
What I like to do to customize our dryer balls and add a soft fragrance to our laundry is add a few drops of pure essential oils to the dryer balls. A citrus or lavender oil is my go to and you only need 1-3 drops per ball to notice a difference. I usually re-apply after a few loads but you can customize how often and how many drops you use based on your own preferences.
How simple is that?! So there you go, just a few suggestions for your next laundry appliances or for a simple laundry room swap that can help reduce your own laundry's environmental impact!
DETAILS: Washing Machine // Dryer // Baskets & Vase were accessories I picked up from The Brick!
Disclaimer: Our laundry room is definitely not ever this styled and spotless but you can't blame a girl for styling her space for photos! ;) That being said we do love to use our little baskets from The Brick to store our dryer balls and to hold our unmatched socks that inevitably get separated during loads!
