This year I’ve been making a real effort to get green and live green in every way.  When my clothes dryer conked out I got a new, super-energy efficient washer and dryer.  The front loading washer uses just 14 gallons of water per load, compared to the top loading washer’s 40 gallons of water per load!  But you don’t have to go to the expense of new appliances to make a difference in the laundry room.  In warm weather, it’s nice to dry clothes the “old fashioned” way right outside on the line.  You can also quit buying fabric softener and dryer sheets!  Did you know that most fabric softeners are full of phthalates, chloroform, camphor and other chemicals that can cause damage to our systems?  These fumes are released through the dryer vent, and the substances from the dryer sheets stick to our clothes!  Yuck!  The solution: dryer balls!  These are terrific.  And they’re a huge money-saver, too, because they last just about forever.  A couple of these spiky rubber balls bounce around the dryer, separating out the clothes so that you don’t get that nasty static cling, and clothes are soft and less wrinkly.  Sometimes the simple solutions are really the best.