THE CLOTHES DRYER

Clothes dryers can be hazardous not only to your brother's health but to the environment as well. Clothes dryers burn over six percent of the total electricity consumed in the U.S. That's a lot of electricity.

Fortunately, there is an alternative...

A clothes line. Even if you hang your clothes outside to dry half the time, you'd save money and do your bit for planet Earth.

Although line drying is the best option, it may not always be possible. I live in Seattle, Washington, where 150 out of 365 days it rains.

And in some communities hanging clothes outside to dry is illegal, although environmental activists such as Project Laundry List are lobbying for legal changes.

Statistics show that only 50% of the population in the U.S. has access outdoors to dry clothes.

Inside drying racks and green gadgets may be the answer.

Bean Sprouts' Melanie Rimmer did a consumer test and found that although scented dryer laundry balls don't necessarily live up to the hype when it comes to replacing dryer sheets, they did cut drying time 50% for a normal load of wash.

Ah, but there is a catch. We live in a perfectly imperfect world. There are pros and cons to these spiky energy savers.

One big environmental con is that PVC is used to make the dryer balls. PVC is not only an environmental hazard when it comes to manufacturing it also creates hazardous waste when it comes time to dispose of those dryer balls.

On the flip side, we must burn approximately 800 lbs. of coal a year to power one electric dryer. 8000 lbs. over the ten-year life of a dryer. And according to the U.S. Dept. of Energy an electric dryer can use between 1800-5000 watts of power. Dryer balls could cut those numbers in half.

It is another one of those "plastic or paper" dilemmas.