Brock Press

Issue date: 11/27/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Chao Sun

A ban on clotheslines across Ontario sparked a furious debate this past week between residents and the Ontario government.
The debate was started up again again by Ontario's chief conservation officer Peter Love, who cited hanging laundry out to dry as a way to cut down on energy use across the province.
The ban, which has been in effect for years, has come under attack because of its disregard of environmental issues in favour of aesthetics. In a time where global warming is a constant concern for the government and citizens alike, a law that prevents energy conservation seems counterintuitive.
In 2003, the Liberal government passed a law that would override any private agreements involving clothesline bans in subdivisions, apartments and trailer parks. These bans were generally imposed by developers in sale agreements or through residential associations to maintain a look that is not marred by homeowners' "unmentionables" flapping in the breeze.
About 95 per cent of Ontario residents are allowed to use clotheslines, but critics say that the restrictions imposed on the rest of the population sends the wrong message about the province's priorities.
In an interview with Canoe.ca, Keith Stewart, manager of the climate change program of the World Wildlife Fund, expressed a unilateral frustration with the government for refusing to override the private laws.
Even Conservative leader John Tory spoke out against the ban, saying that preventing the use of clotheslines is taking aesthetics too far.
Premier Dalton McGuinty has kept mum on the debate, telling the Canadian Press that it is an issue but refused to elaborate as to why he is not striving to have the ban rescinded.
The Ministry of the Environment says the average dryer uses 900 kilowatt-hours of energy per year, creating 840 kilograms of air pollution. Environmentalists estimate that if the residents of Ontario took advantage of using clotheslines to dry their clothing, it would be equivalent to taking 250,000 cars off the road.
The ban on clotheslines also tends to include a ban on solar panels, which are required to be retrofitted on top of the roof structure instead of being incorporated within, thus negatively affecting the aesthetic of the landscape, according to some property owners.
Lifting the clothesline ban is just one part of 12 recommendations made by Peter Love, whose 2007 report on energy conservation insists that the government take energy matters into consideration in all of their policy-making. He has also recommended that the government increase its standards in the inspection of high-polluters, such as refrigerators, freezers and dishwashers while assisting lower-income housing in upgrading to more energy-efficient appliances.
Global warming has changed the way we think about the world around us, and the furor that has arisen over this debate indicates that the Ontarians are willing to mess up their view in order to save money and protect the environment.

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