Stop ironing clothes

THE EDITOR, Madam:

When faced with a challenge that’s unprecedented in the threat posed, as with climate change, our perspectives on mitigation must also change if we are to reduce the impact and dangers of what global warming represents.

For me, this has meant changing the way I dress for work. My usual attire now is denim trousers and a cotton pullover. These garments have a distinct environmental advantage: I don’t need to iron them.

My light bill has reflected a 15 per cent reduction, and my colleagues at work, and the office manager, have not noticed that my clothes are not been pressed over the past several months.

Tradition has firmly indoctrinated most of us to believe that clothes that undergo the energy-intensive process of ironing is an absolute necessity. However, the truth is, the cost of this practice significantly contributes to the climate disaster that’s unfolding before us.

Additionally, denying the JPS that 15 per cent of an already-excessively inflated bill offers me another element of satisfaction, in addition to doing something that makes a positive difference, in the carbon footprint I generate.

My thought is that we should seriously think, individually and collectively (the latter via the representational political legislative structure), and work out the details to make it mandatory that the ironing of clothes becomes an extinct practice – before we are.

O.L.D. BROWN