A new study confirms dryer machines are an equal threat to the environment as washing machines.
Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news While we are cleaning our clothes, we are polluting our air. A typical U.S. household does about 300 loads of laundry every year and because our cleaning habits are bad for the environment, scientists want us to cut back. Not only does washing our clothes this much use an excessive amount of energy, it also spews out tons of carbon dioxide. This is bad for the environment, and it wears down our clothes, which adds clothing to our landfills. Researchers report that the E.U. alone produces 2.2 million tons of "textile waste" each year. Drying Just as Bad as Washing Up until now, researchers have mostly focused on the negative effects of washing machines on the environment. Now, a new study suggests that tumble drying is just as bad. First, this is what we know about washing machines: A residential washing machine uses about 41 gallons of water per load. A commercial washing machine uses an average of 34.74 thousand gallons of water and up to 910 kilowatts of electricity per year. Residential washing machines emit 179 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. Using cold water can reduce emissions by 864 pounds of carbon per year. Scented liquid laundry detergent emits compounds that the Environmental Protection Agency has classified as carcinogens. And second, we now know that drying one…