--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If we all used clotheslines, we could…" description: "\"If we all used clotheslines, we could save 30 million tons of coal a year, or shut down 15 nuclear power plants. And you don't have to wait to start. Y..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e3/bill-mckibben-1057_afternoon_if-we-all-used-clotheslines-we-could-sav_2789731.jpg" --- # If we all used clotheslines, we could save 30 million tons… ![“If we all used clotheslines, we could save 30 million tons of coal a year, or shut down 15 nuclear power plants. And you don't have to wait to start. Yours could be up by this afternoon. To be specific, buy 50 feet of clothesline and a $3 bag of clothespins and become a solar energy pioneer.” quote by Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e3/bill-mckibben-1057_afternoon_if-we-all-used-clotheslines-we-could-sav_2789731.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e3/bill-mckibben-1057_afternoon_if-we-all-used-clotheslines-we-could-sav_2789731.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e3/bill-mckibben-1057_afternoon_if-we-all-used-clotheslines-we-could-sav_2789731.jpg) > “If we all used clotheslines, we could save 30 million tons of coal a year, or shut down 15 nuclear power plants. And you don't have to wait to start. Yours could be up by this afternoon. To be specific, buy 50 feet of clothesline and a $3 bag of clothespins and become a solar energy pioneer.” [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Widespread use of simple, low‑tech solutions like clotheslines can dramatically cut carbon emissions and reduce reliance on large power plants. **In simple terms:** Simple actions can cut huge emissions. Key Takeaway Adopt low‑tech energy solutions now. Themes environment energy action innovation Mood optimistic pragmatic Type call to action inspirational When to use this quote - household energy saving - community projects - personal sustainability initiatives Key Concepts carbon reduction behavioral change grassroots activism Questions to Reflect On - How many households would need to switch to make a measurable difference? - What barriers prevent people from using clotheslines? A Different Perspective Impact depends on collective adoption, not just individual effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Afternoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afternoon/) [Bags](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bags/) [Climate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate/) [Clothesline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clothesline-607889/) [Clotheslines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clotheslines/) [Clotheslines Save](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clotheslines-save-3370606/) [Clothespins Solar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clothespins-solar-3370607/) [Coal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coal/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Feet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feet/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Millions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/millions/) [Nuclear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nuclear/) [Nuclear power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nuclear-power/) [Pioneers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pioneers/) [Plant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plant/) [Power plant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power-plant/) [Power plants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power-plants/) [Solar energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solar-energy/) [Used](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/used/) [Used Clotheslines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/used-clotheslines-3370608/) [Waiting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waiting/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [A generating function is a clothesline on which we hang up a sequence of numbers for display.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-wilf/a-generating-function-is-a-clothesline-on-which-we-hang-up-a-sequence/) [Herbert Wilf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-wilf/) > [You might be a redneck if your daughter's Barbie's Dream House has a clothesline in the front yard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-foxworthy/you-might-be-a-redneck-if-your-daughter-s-barbie-s-dream-house-has-a/) [Jeff Foxworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-foxworthy/) > [“This is the difference between Eldric and me. Had it been my job to transform the garden, I would have removed the clothesline. Clotheslines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franny-billingsley/this-is-the-difference-between-eldric-and-me-had-it-been-my-job-to/) [Franny Billingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franny-billingsley/) > [Most reformers, like a pair of trousers on a windy clothesline, go through a vast deal of vehement motion, but stay in the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-o-malley/most-reformers-like-a-pair-of-trousers-on-a-windy-clothesline-go/) [Austin O'Malley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-o-malley/) > [It's not hard to tell we was poor - when you saw the toilet paper dryin' on the clothesline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lindsey/it-s-not-hard-to-tell-we-was-poor-when-you-saw-the-toilet-paper-dryin/) [George Lindsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lindsey/) > [South African schoolchildren set a world record this week by creating the world's longest clothesline. Hey, what do South Africans wash their clothes with?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-miller/south-african-schoolchildren-set-a-world-record-this-week-by-creating/) [Dennis Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-miller/) > [You should always be careful of who you spill your guts to because they might go back and air your laundry out on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veedan-shimakuura/you-should-always-be-careful-of-who-you-spill-your-guts-to-because/) [Veedan Shimakuura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veedan-shimakuura/) > [“Remembering Mom's Clothesline -- There is one thing that's left out. We had a long wooden pole (clothes pole) that was used to push…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unnown/remembering-mom-s-clothesline-there-is-one-thing-that-s-left-out-we/) [Unnown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/unnown/) > [“this empty act could no more be mistaken for a mother's touch than the wind that fills out some dress on a clothesline might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darin-strauss/this-empty-act-could-no-more-be-mistaken-for-a-mother-s-touch-than/) [Darin Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darin-strauss/) > [“she goes out to the clothesline to hang a few things, his things, her things, and a load of tea cloths.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/she-goes-out-to-the-clothesline-to-hang-a-few-things-his-things-her/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [“When afternoon came to Vidyasagar Road, wet clothes ... hung from a clothesline which stretched from one side to another on the veranda of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-chaudhuri/when-afternoon-came-to-vidyasagar-road-wet-clothes-hung-from-a/) [Amit Chaudhuri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-chaudhuri/) > [Canada is not so much a country as a clothesline nearly 4,000 miles long. St John's in Newfoundland is closer to Milan, Italy than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-hoggart/canada-is-not-so-much-a-country-as-a-clothesline-nearly-4-000-miles/) [Simon Hoggart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-hoggart/) > [She was the only doctor's wife in Branford, Maine, who hung her wash on an outdoor clothesline instead of putting it through a dryer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/she-was-the-only-doctor-s-wife-in-branford-maine-who-hung-her-wash-on/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [I don't want to know about the constitution of the rapist--I want to kill him! I don't care if he is white or black,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diamanda-galas/i-don-t-want-to-know-about-the-constitution-of-the-rapist-i-want-to/) [Diamanda Galas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diamanda-galas/) > [My happiest childhood memories are of times in our backyard. My mother had an old clothesline that hung out in front. It seemed like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/traci-lords/my-happiest-childhood-memories-are-of-times-in-our-backyard-my-mother/) [Traci Lords](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/traci-lords/) ## More by Bill McKibben > [I try not to be either optimistic or pessimistic. I try not to think about outcomes on that scale. My job, it seems to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-try-not-to-be-either-optimistic-or-pessimistic-i-try-not-to-think/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Oil companies are radical because they're willing to alter the chemical composition of the atmosphere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/oil-companies-are-radical-because-they-re-willing-to-alter-the/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Whenever anyone challenges anything, the powers that be try to paint them as extremists or radicals or whatever. And I think that's actually nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/whenever-anyone-challenges-anything-the-powers-that-be-try-to-paint/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [My guess is that liberating the fossil fuel industry to frack anywhere they want will drive down the rate at which we're converting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/my-guess-is-that-liberating-the-fossil-fuel-industry-to-frack/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [What makes us different? We're the creature that can decide not to do something that we are capable of doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/what-makes-us-different-we-re-the-creature-that-can-decide-not-to-do/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [“The snow was coming down so hard. It looked like the flakes were hurrying to get out of the sky so the next ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-snow-was-coming-down-so-hard-it-looked-like-the-flakes-were/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Most of the men and women who vote in Congress each year to continue subsidies have taken campaign donations from big energy companies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/most-of-the-men-and-women-who-vote-in-congress-each-year-to-continue/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [“I’ve sat behind a microphone and listened for decades as Americans learned to stop talking with each other and start shouting instead. No discussions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-ve-sat-behind-a-microphone-and-listened-for-decades-as-americans/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [People in low-lying countries like Bangladesh with almost 140 million people who are managing to feed themselves, whose carbon emissions can't really be calculated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/people-in-low-lying-countries-like-bangladesh-with-almost-140-million/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [We're putting more carbon into the atmosphere than the atmosphere can absorb. And everybody told us when we started, coz we knew nothing when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-re-putting-more-carbon-into-the-atmosphere-than-the-atmosphere-can/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Everything that the administration has done has been counterproductive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/everything-that-the-administration-has-done-has-been-counterproductive/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [We use the web to help people organize in the flesh, and then we take the images of those events and put them back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-use-the-web-to-help-people-organize-in-the-flesh-and-then-we-take/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [everyone knows, at some level, that the sharp line between "good weather" and "bad weather" is a fiction, that we need rain as surely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/everyone-knows-at-some-level-that-the-sharp-line-between-good-weather/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [The thing about global warming is that you can address it on a great number of levels - in fact you have to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-thing-about-global-warming-is-that-you-can-address-it-on-a-great/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Where people aren't as deeply reliant on fossil fuel as in the United States, it's far easier for them to imagine change on this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/where-people-aren-t-as-deeply-reliant-on-fossil-fuel-as-in-the-united/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) [Explore all 299 Bill McKibben quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) ## More Afternoon quotes > [I didn't grow up thinking of movies as film, or art, but as movies, something to do on a Saturday afternoon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-pollack/i-didn-t-grow-up-thinking-of-movies-as-film-or-art-but-as-movies/) [Sydney Pollack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-pollack/) > [My dental hygienist is cute. Every time I visit, I eat a whole package of Oreo cookies while waiting in the lobby. Sometimes she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/my-dental-hygienist-is-cute-every-time-i-visit-i-eat-a-whole-package/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [Honestly, I'm living my fantasy. It's being with my family, preferably on a snowy afternoon with a fire going, cuddled up in blankets, playing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-vieira/honestly-i-m-living-my-fantasy-it-s-being-with-my-family-preferably/) [Meredith Vieira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-vieira/) > [It was a very intense and stressful situation. There was playing in the Johnny-pump (an opened fire hydrant) and the ice-cream man coming around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-z/it-was-a-very-intense-and-stressful-situation-there-was-playing-in/) [Jay-Z](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-z/) > [Sunday afternoon is for papers and writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-haslam/sunday-afternoon-is-for-papers-and-writing/) [Nicholas Haslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-haslam/) > [I think that if most guys in America could somehow get their fave-rave poster girl in bed and have total license to do whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/i-think-that-if-most-guys-in-america-could-somehow-get-their-fave/) [Lester Bangs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-bangs/) > [“If you come at four in the afternoon, I'll begin to be happy by three.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/if-you-come-at-four-in-the-afternoon-i-ll-begin-to-be-happy-by-three/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [At five in the afternoon. It was exactly five in the afternoon. A boy brought the white sheet at five in the afternoon. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/at-five-in-the-afternoon-it-was-exactly-five-in-the-afternoon-a-boy/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The shadows in the early morning don't tell much. The shadows rest at that time. 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