Until now, many property managers and HOAs have banned the use of outdoor clotheslines, despite the benefits to the environment and the energy savings it provides. Renegades have had to hide their fresh air laundry drying habits.
But Gov. Jerry Brown recently passed Assembly Bill 1448 into law, which requires property managers to let renters and homeowner association members string clotheslines in private areas.
Laura Shafer, a Sebastopol Granger, artist and activist, has long advocated for increased use of solar laundry drying. Her portfolio of artistic photography celebrates laundry drying in the sun and she and her husband design and build custom redwood trellis laundry lines. She has a lifelong appreciation of line-drying and is passionate about our increasing need to save energy and cut carbon emissions.
In 2014, Shafer put a resolution forward to the California State Grange to oppose any prohibitions against clothesline use. Sebastopol Granger Lawrence Jaffe championed it at the State Grange Convention and the resolution was passed. The action was noticed by Assemblywoman Patty Lopez, D-San Fernando, who introduced Assembly Bill 1448 in February 27, 2015. Shafer went to Sacramento to testify in support of the bill. After passing through every stage of committee approval, the bill was approved by Governor Brown on October 8.
Shafer says, “I’m happy I did my part and that my Grange did too, to help make this happen.”
Photography by Laura Shafer.