By now we all know that hucking your old stuff into the landfill and buying shiny new “green” stuff is not the way to solve any of the planet’s perils. With clothes dryers this is especially true because the technology in new machines hasn’t improved enough for substantial energy savings. Even the EPA seems to have thrown up its hands by not including clothes dryers in its Energy Star program that certifies energy-saving products. After the refrigerator, which is on all the time, clothes dryers are the second biggest energy drain among household appliances.

So what can you do to reduce the environmental impact of this necessary household activity? The greenest option is certainly setting up an outdoor clothesline, but that’s not practical year-round in most of the country and is actually banned as an eyesore in many neighborhoods. Hanging clothes indoors takes much longer and the item you want never seems to be completely dry when you need it. So before you slip into those cold, wet jeans, here are some ideas to reduce the environmental impact of drying your clothes without abandoning your machine all together.

Inspect your dryer
Dryers that are not well maintained waste the most energy. The first step is to clean the lint filter often. Dryer lint can go straight into your composter. Or you can save it for your next camping trip, where it, combined with some bag balm, makes an excellent fire starter. Another important step is to make sure the outside dryer vent closes tightly. If it doesn’t close, fix or replace it so you can keep the cooler outside air from leaking in.

Dry smarter
No matter how old your machine, you can save energy just by being a little strategic. Here’s how:

1. Separate your loads according to the weight of the clothing. Dry heavy items, like jeans, together in one load and much faster drying items, like t-shirts, in another. That way drying times will be more predictable and you won’t overdry your clothing.

2. If you don't have a functioning moisture sensor, set a timer to see how long it takes to fully dry each type of load. Check the load at 15 minutes and then 10-minute increments until it feels completely dry. Do this once and post the times above your dryer so you don’t forget.

3. Do consecutive loads to make use of the hot air that’s already in your dryer from the previous load.

4. Whenever possible, dry your clothes during off-peak energy hours.

By maintaining your machine and sticking to an energy conserving strategy, you may notice your clothes dry faster and your energy bills shrink. But as long as there are still long days of warm sunshine, you might as well do a little laundry activism and string a line.