Poor Richard’s Almanac

Racking it up. August 8, 2011

Silence Dogood here. After reading an article I’d written about how to restore sanity—and even pleasure—in the kitchen, a reader e-mailed to suggest additional ways to make grocery shopping a more environmentally friendly activity, including making your own cotton grocery bags. (In Britain, there’s a grassroots organization/organisation, http://morsbags.com/,  that makes grocery bags from remnant material and actually gives them out for free at grocery stores. Wow.)

Anyway, this made me think about simple ways our friend Ben and I here at Hawk’s Haven could ramp up our own recycling/downcycling efforts. And one thing that sprang to mind was an ad for a $9.99 metal clothes-drying rack from our local Aldi store. Our friend Ben and I have not yet been to the relatively new-on-the-block Aldi’s, but our friend Rudy recommends it. And given that our two wooden clothes-drying racks cost almost $70 each, an additional $10 drying rack seems like a great addition to our attempts to dry our clothes without racking up either our electric bill or the need to rewash clothes splattered with bird droppings should we attempt to run a clothesline and dry them outdoors.  

We could certainly use another clothes-drying rack, especially one that’s durable but reasonably priced. We’re interested in checking out Aldi’s, since it insists that you bring your own bags and pay with cash, something most people haven’t experienced or even imagined since their great-grandparents’ time. We’ll keep you posted.

        ‘Til next time,

                          Silence