BOSTON -- There is a simple way you can save money on electric bills while also reducing your carbon footprint -- use a clothesline.

NewsCenter 5's David Brown reported that Debbie Litka has been using a clothesline for seven years.

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"(I save) $30 a month, if I'm consistent. But anywhere from $10 to $30 a month," she said.

Most people can save about $350 a year simply by turning off the electric dryer and stringing up the clothesline. An estimated 6 percent of U.S. electrical use goes to powering dryers. The appliances also emit up to a ton of carbon dioxide per household a year.

"Oh, the smell is very refreshing -- the sheets especially. The kids even notice," she said. "Actually, it's catching on. A few of my friends they drive by and they notice I'm hanging out clothes."

Some local laws ban the backyard clothesline. In New Hampshire, Alexander Lee, of Project Laundry List, is hoping to hang the laws out to dry by lobbying local legislators.

"There are thousands of bans around New England on hanging out your clothes and community associations, so one of things we work on is Right To Dry legislation," Lee said.

Right To Dry legislation is already in the statehouses of New Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont.

"I think the reason this has caught on in the last year is because of the sort of nexus of climate change, gas prices and energy prices," Lee said.

"You never know what you are going to see on somebody's clothesline. You can probably learn a lot from people from what they hang," Litka said.