Danny Seo’s blog entry today was devoted to the topic of laundry and had some truly stunning statistics about how much time and money is devoted to laundry (and a some good tips too).

The Environmental Protection Agency says the average family washes nearly 400 loads of laundry a year — more than load a day — and Americans spend more than $3 billion on detergent.

Who knew?  Well, you did.  Because you likely do some, if not all, of that laundry.  So why does going green with laundry matter?  Four possible reasons:  you can save energy and water, reduce stuff, and improve health.  And by greening your laundry, you can make green strides in all these areas.

1.  Switch to an eco-friendly detergent:  improve your health and your planet’s health

A typical laundry detergent contains a number of chemicals, some of which have negative environmental and health effects.  The most direct negative impact is due to chemicals in the waste water harming plants and fish, although some chemicals, particularly phthalates, can aggravate or trigger chemical sensitivities, are being found in breast milk, and research is showing some impact of exposure to phthalates on infant development.

2.  Turn to cold water and line dry (or at least clean your filter and throw in a towel!):  save energy

The majority of energy used in laundry is heating the water.  By switching to cold water, you will reduce nearly 90% of the energy used versus washing in hot.  According to the Green Book, if every house switched even to warm-cold, the US would reduce oil usage by 100,000 barrels A DAY.  The other energy hog is your dryer.  Line drying is obviously super green, but not always practical, particularly in the cold weather parts of the country.  You can save drying time, and thus energy by making sure your filter is clean and throwing in a dry towel to speed drying times.

3.  Switch to a front-loading washer–and/or wash with the washer full:  save water

An Energy Star model uses 50% less water than a standard model, and there are “Tier 3″ models that cut down an additional 40% of water usage.  You want to look for a “Water Factor” score that is under 4.5 for the most water efficient models.  And if you haven’t switched over yet, the new Cash for Appliances rebate program is either already in effect, or will be in effect, in your state this year.  But if switching just isn’t in the cards, the most water efficient thing to do is make sure the washer is full before you run it and reduce overall quantity of loads.

4.  Buy concentrated green detergent in smaller packaging:  reduce stuff

Walmart actually drove the downsizing of laundry packaging several years ago by insisting that every manufacturer double concentration.  We are now entering the era of tinier and tinier bottles–just make sure you don’t over use the detergent or it defeats the purpose.  Yes, it requires a 15 minute “laundry primer” for anyone else who might help you–kids, cleaning person, babysitter, and the spouse.  But it will cut down on packaging significantly.  And of course, recycle the bottle if you can.

Most importantly, is green laundry clean laundry?  For us, yes.  Granted, we are not working construction, but we do have lots of grass-stains and as my family and co-workers can attest,  I spill wine, coffee, balsamic vinaigrette, and Indian food on myself a decent amount.  We are fans of both Costco’s Environmentally Friendly Detergent and Seventh Generation Free & Clear.  Here also is a fun road “test” of six different detergents from Grist.org.