Wearing My Jeans at Least Twice Before Laundering
OK, now that I've got you all humming Neil Diamond songs from the seventies, let's talk about my pants.
The cool fall weather that I love so much is finally upon us and I have put my three ill-fitting but comfortable pair of dungarees back into the ol' wardrobe rotation. These were all purchased just last year, after I finally decided that 18 months post-partum was a little to long to be wearing maternity jeans. Being relatively new, they are all that dark-blue, looks-like-I've-been-wearing-them-to-work-in-a-coal-mine color. What I'm trying to say here, is that a little dirt is hardly noticeable on these jeans.
So, I've decided that, to save water, laundry detergent, dryer energy and denim wear-and-tear, I will be wearing my jeans until they can practically walk themselves to the hamper. Or twice. Whichever comes first. Hubby always wears his jeans at least twice and it's not like I notice it on him, and his jeans are the older, nearly-faded-white color, so who the hell will notice on me? And if someone does notice and has the balls to say something, God help 'em - cuz I'll go all Song Sung Blue on their ass.
Savings:
In the fall/winter/spring, I usually wear jeans five days per week. Rather than washing after each wear, I will wear them twice. So in one week, instead of washing 5 pair of jeans, I'll be washing 2.5 pair. Now let's assume that it takes 10 pair of jeans to fill a load of laundry (they're bulky and heavy). I will be saving an entire load of laundry every four weeks. Jean season lasts November - April or 26 weeks, so that's a savings of 6.5 loads of laundry per year. That equates to 78 gallons of water and over 20 kWh saved.
Difficulty Level: 1 out of 5
The only difficult part is that I'm a slob and I'll need to try a little harder not to spill food, coffee or the kids' paint on my pants. I know I can do it though. I'm a Believer.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Day 106 - Forever in Blue Jeans
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5 comments:
What I'm trying to say here, is that a little dirt is hardly noticeable on these jeans.
Erin, if the only thing you find objectionable about dirt is its notice-ability, you could save a lot more on all your laundry by loosing such social phobias of nosy, puritanical judgments. They're usually our own reflected in our mirror of society anyway. And there is always "Song Sung Blue," a just vengeance anywhere.
G&G,
When I started this blog, I wanted to see if it was possible to "go green" without changing the way people perceive me (middle-upper class soccer-mom keeping-up-with-the-joneses type). Now, after 100 days, I'm starting to change my views about that.
Now I'm hoping that in a year I will have morphed into the type of person who just doesn't care what others think anymore. I've got a long ways to go, but I'm headed in the right direction!
Thanks for the encouragement! :-)
- Erin
We used to go all artistic on the jeans, and draw outlines around the coffee spills. We would embroider on them, too.
The first time I saw ripped, holey, scrubbed, worn looking jeans with embroidery in the fashion stores for $90. bucks, I got sort of Song Sung Blue feeling. What we were criticized for, had became haute couture.
You are a fabulously funny writer!
As I aged, more slowly than most, I cared less and less what people thought. It took a bit to realize that a lot of my behavior was "suggested" by others, and not by me, for me.
Gee, my office pants and home sweats get about three weeks of wear before they are washed. You think YOU are a slob?
Dude, my home sweats definitely get the nasty treatment. They lay get worn for weeks at a time without ever seeing the inside of a washing machine. But I don't wear them out in public! :-)
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