Is Green Living Stymied by Neighborhood Covenants?

The following are precluded: Outside clotheslines or clothes drying ... window air conditioning units ... vegetable gardens ...

That's an excerpt from the Home Owner Association (HOA) covenants of the Crest Mountain neighborhood of Asheville, N.C. An article published today documents many such HOA covenant restrictions, barring everything from window fans to natural landscaping, running headfirst into a growing movement for homes that reflect owners' ecological ideals.

The clothesline has been touted as one of the "seven wonders" by the Seattle-based Sightline Institute, seven simple things that can make the world a better, healthier place. (The others, since I know you're curious, are the bicycle, the ceiling fan, the condom, pad thai, the public library, and the ladybug.)

The practical effect of the covenants is to force the use of electric/gas clothes dryers instead of clotheslines; the use of utility-provided electricity instead of home-generated solar/wind/geothermal power; the purchase of store produce instead of home-grown; and the pesticide-laden maintenance of lawn instead of greener alternatives.

Eagle Point Golf Community near Medford, Ore.: "Lawns shall be watered,
fertilized and sprayed for weeds and/or insects and diseases as needed to keep
them healthy and green. They shall be mowed on a regular basis."

For more horror stories about homeowners' inability to live their green ideals, read the article: The Property Cops: Homeowner Associations Ban Eco-Friendly Practices

For a partial list of neighborhoods nationwide that ban clotheslines, and some tools for fighting such bans, visit Project Laundry List.