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18
2008
Let the Breeze Do Your Dirty Work.
Filed in: EnergyReader Question
Dear Ashley,
With spring quickly approaching I was reminded of an incident involving a next-door neighbor last year. It involved my clothesline. This particular neighbor claimed that my clothesline was not only unsightly but it brought down property values in the neighborhood. He went so far as threatening to call bylaw services if I did not remove it promptly. Although I have since moved I am still curious to know if Calgary has a bylaw that would favor aesthetics over my right to do something good for the environment.
Kindly,
Anne
Ashley's Answer
Dear Anne,
Although your question doesn’t deal with solid waste (garbage, compost, recyclables) or water directly, it does deal with waste in the broadest sense of the term. It also deals with air quality and resource use and, perhaps, even human decency. And besides, it’s a really, really intriguing question. Never, in my life, have I heard of anything so outrageous and that is why I’ve decided to scratch beneath the surface and find you, and everyone else living in Calgary, an answer.
Apparently clotheslines have been under fire for many years. Developers impose bans in their sales agreements and residential associations draft their own rules as they try to maintain a certain aesthetic quality for the neighborhood. According to Project Laundry List – an American non-profit organization that has a wealth of information about the benefits of using clotheslines - there are literally thousands of communities that restrict or ban the use of clotheslines across North America.
Ontario, for instance, has had clothesline bans for years but several communities, including Aurora, are fighting back. Aurora’s mayor, Phyllis Morris, launched a Right to Dry campaign last year urging the government to allow her constituents to override the subdivision agreements that prevent homeowners from using a clothesline to dry their laundry. She stated that energy shortages and an increasing prevalence of smog were reasons enough for the bans to be lifted. This sentiment was also felt by Ontario’s chief conservation officer Peter Love, who, in his 2007 report on energy conservation, recommended the bans be scrapped. And thanks to a private member’s bill, Nova Scotia’s Energy Resources Conservation Act was amended to ensure that property owners would retain their right to erect a clothesline on their property by preventing any restrictions to their use. So did your neighbors threat hold water in here in Calgary?
Not according to the folks at the City’s land use department, who stated that no such restrictions exist under the Calgary Land Use Bylaw. They informed me that if a person chooses to dry their unmentionables in the back yard then that is their prerogative. They didn’t, however, weigh in on rules drafted by specific community associations or those imposed by developers in their sales agreements. They hadn’t heard of any such rules but didn’t go so far to say that they didn’t exist.
So with the information before us it would seem that Calgarians are at liberty to use a clothesline if they wish. Bylaw officers won’t be issuing fines to those of us who hang our clothes out to dry and I haven’t heard of communities cracking down on clotheslines in Calgary just yet. Certainly, I would think that the vast majority of Calgarians are decent enough to be able to tolerate a few of their neighbors clothes hanging on a line, especially when one considers the obvious benefits of using a clothesline. A simple clothesline can do so much to conserve precious resources, while also saving people money on their energy bills and clearing the air that we all need to breath. Small actions go a long way in building sustainable and healthy communities; communities that we can be proud to be a part of.
Joyously,
Ashley
Ashley Lubyk, BSc. in Environmental Science, is the founder of the Healthy Homes program at Green Calgary. Please send your environmental questions to Ashley.