Weather Watch: Making the most of the elements

Hanging out your laundry to dry is practically unheard of in the US. Photo / Dean Purcell

The other day I had a meeting with our General Manager of the Radio Network, Grant Lee.

In this particular meeting I was pretty anxious - not because of the subject matter, but because that morning I had left all my laundry outside on the line and it had rained.

For some reason all my business socks were washed at once and the only pair of socks I had that were dry, and could fit into my dress shoes, were a pair of Christmas socks...complete with Santas and reindeer. Terrible.

The meeting was an important one, but I spent more time worrying about keeping my legs uncrossed and firmly on the floor to avoid my trousers riding up and showing my very uncouth socks to my boss.

Turned out no one even noticed.

When I was talking to my friend on the phone that night she asked me why I didn't just bung a pair in the drier. "I don't own a drier," I replied.

"What?!" she asked, utterly shocked. "I don't own a drier...in fact, I haven't had a drier since 2002."

It has nothing to do with being green or not wanting to waste money on my power bill. It's simply because for about 50 weeks of the year I simply don't need it.

I don't really have a system, but I save my laundry until there's a gap in the weather. In Auckland, despite the reputation of always having four seasons in one day, it actually is either showery or dry. That's what I've found. And even when there are showers, you can bet that 60 per cent of the city won't see one. Or if it does, it only sees one. So hanging out clothes, even if they have a shower or two, they'll still most likely be dry when I get home from work.

I do a few loads a week and almost never run into problems. There are probably two weeks a year when I do - last week was one of those weeks.

The horror of wearing Santa socks to a serious business meeting will haunt me forever.

But it made me think about other ways I use the weather. In America and Canada you very rarely see washing hanging out. In fact, some suburbs have laws that make it illegal to hang washing out to dry. The police can give you a ticket for it. How insane is that?

Last year, while holidaying with my Aunt and Uncle in Brampton near Toronto, my mother decided to hang out the laundry after three weeks of road trips. They don't have a washing line. No one there does. In fact, in my four holidays to Canada I have never once seen laundry outside, even when it's warm. The laundry my Mum hung out made the back yard look like a small shanty town with "unmentionables" hanging from coat hangers on their garden archway.

So I rely on the wind to dry my clothes. Makes sense in this country.

In summer I rely on the rain to water my gardens. In fact, I've been meaning to put a tub under one of my down pipes to collect water for drier days.

I use the sun to warm my house in winter, closing doors and opening and closing curtains to ensure the sun warms the house as much as possible. Sometimes, even on frosty evenings, I don't need to light the fire or switch on a heater for a couple hours after getting home at 5pm, because my "system" has trapped in the heat.

I don't know if I'd want to get into solar panels and all that. Maybe if someone made it easy for me. At heart, I'm lazy when it comes to things I don't like doing. Hanging out the washing isn't fun - but it's easier than getting in my car on a Saturday, going to some crowded place and buying a drier.

Likewise with relying on the rain for rainwater - easier than buying and installing sprinklers which I would far prefer to have.

The weather is very useful. You can harness quite a bit of energy from it if you want to.

I'd be really keen to hear from any of you who have little quirks that involve the weather in some way. Post a comment below!