Miracles are possible

Two weeks have gone by since I last updated. Two weekends ago, we did 5 loads of wash and 3 loads of drying. However, last weekend, we finally got down to 4 washer loads and 2 dryer loads! We even gave the dog a bath and had room to wash his dog bed and towels!

The one down side to hanging clothes on the line is that if we don't use a little bit of fabric softener in the wash, the material gets scratchy and uncomfortable to wear. It does loosen up after wearing for a few hours, but the clothes are not very comfortable during that time.

One thing has been lurking in the back of my mind. The clothes that I've hung back up in the closet after only wearing them for 4-5 hours will have to be washed at some point. I've tried to spread out when that happens, but this week, I feel like there are several outfits I'm wearing for the second time that need to get in the wash. So, we may end back up at 5 and 3 again this weekend.

I figure that as long as I keep pushing myself toward the goal of 4 and 2, I might average out at like 4.5 and 2.5 over time. Compared to our 8 loads of wash and dry every week before embarking on this conservation mission, that's not too bad!

The reason I believe we have generally been somewhat successful in making this change is because I set what I learned in high school to be called a S.M.A.R.T. goal: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. Out of all of those, I think setting a measurable goal has contributed most to our success. It's like the theory of planned behavior and the compatibility principle; if your attitude toward a specific behavior is favorable, you will likely engage in that specific behavior. So, yes, I have a favorable attitude toward conserving energy and being an environmentalist, but, I had to lay out a favorable attitude toward the specific conservation behavior (reducing the amount of laundry we do). I had to be even more specific and say that I am fond of doing only 4 loads of wash, 2 loads of dry and using a clothesline to dry my clothes every weekend. These were highly specific tasks that I can measure easily. Thus, my attitude toward the behavior predicted my behavioral intent (setting the goal) and subsequent behavior. It wasn't going to be enough for me to experience cognitive dissonance, a sense of responsibility, tap into my biospheric values, or guilt. For me, those principles helped me set a goal and motivated me at the on-set, but were not going to be enough for me to sustain the change. They just weren't strong enough or tangible enough.

Also, I verbally and writtenly (hmm, not a word, but oh well) committed to this goal, which, is generally predictive of a higher likelihood to engage in said behavior. There is some theory or model that supports this, but I can't think of it off the top of my head.

Originally, I thought it would take more research and expert sources to convince me that I don't need to wash fabrics as much as I do to be clean. However, I must be more of an early majority kind of person (see Rogers Diffusion of Innovations) because I am much more reliant on interpersonal communication to make and support my decision-making process in adopting this behavior. Although, I certainly don't expect there to be a widespread adoption of the clothesline in favor or dryers! It's hard to give up technology once it's so engrained in our lives, but frankly, I kind of enjoy getting some fresh air and subshine while I hang my clothes to dry.