Be a Cold Water Hero
The American Cleaning institute has launched The Cold Water Saves Campaign. Washing your clothes in cold water has numerous benefits to the Earth and your wallet. Small changes in your laundry habits isn’t hard, you just have to check the garment label.
About 90 percent of the energy a washing machine uses goes towards heating the water. Using cold water to wash some of your clothes eliminates this energy, making your clothes and the planet happy! Decreasing your carbon footprint can be as easy as switching to cool water. How much energy is really saved? Let’s put it into perspective; If a household switched to cold water washing for a year, they would save enough energy to charge an iPhone 4S 30,861 times.
Check your garment care labels, and you’ll see that many clothes specify to wash them in cool or cold water. This is because cold water is gentler on your clothes, and can protect them from fading, shrinking or bleeding. With cold water you can wash larger, unsorted loads without fear of tie-dying everything you own. Since cold water washing is better for the longevity of your clothes, you’ll save money not having to restock your favorite sweater every year. Cutting back on hot water can help decrease your energy bill.
You might have heard that hot water washes best, but the times are changing. Years ago, the composition of detergent was different than it is now. New detergent technology introduces enzymes to the scene that actually work better in cold water. There are even some stains (think: grass, makeup and blood) that should only be washed in cold water, as hot water could makes the stains permanent. For more information, check out the toolkit at coldwatersavestoolkit.org.
Source: http://www.coldwatersaves.org/