Right To Dry

I have to say that I never understood the whole Right To Dry campaign.

Sure, I understand that clothes dryers are huge energy suckers, that people should be allowed (and encouraged) to dry clothes outdoors, and I applaud Phyllis Morris (Mayor of Aurora) for her leadership role in bringing this issue to light.  I agree that this restriction is stupid and should be removed.

But really, what’s to stop me from putting up a clothes line?  A covenant on my deed?  Please.  As if that would stop me.

My question is, what happens if you go against that covenant and just put up the bloody clothes line?  Are the clothes line police going to come get you?  What’s the penalty?  And what is the mechanism for punishing me for airing my clean laundry?  What municipality in their right mind would actually enforce this stupid covenant?

I mean really, please make me a front page news story!

The major benefit of the Right To Dry campaign, IMHO, is not that more people will put up clothes lines, but that it is highlighting that the provincial government is talking about conservation being top priority but are not prepared to change policy to allow it to happen.  Dalton McGuinty is talking a good line on conservation and then not walking the talk by refusing to address this issue.

And why is this?  Likely because they couldn’t measure the effect of the policy change.

This is the same reason why they have the Conservation Office melded into the Ontario Power Authority and why they talk in terms of “procuring” conservation and demand management.  Because unless they are spending money on a government program and can measure the effect of the program they are just not interested.

By bringing this to light, the Right To Dry campaign is providing a public service that goes way beyond drying clothes.