About 10 years ago, on my morning drive into work, I had an epiphany that forever changed the way I think about laundry. At the time I was an engineer with a major industrial uniform/laundry company and on this particular morning I happened to be inspired by the millions of pounds of laundry the company washed each day. That led to another thought that, even though the number was very large, it paled in comparison to how many pounds of laundry are done in people’s homes each day.
There are currently over 325 million people in the U.S. Some of us generate more laundry than others but a typical person generates somewhere around 2 lbs. per day. At that rate, it’s safe to say that, on any given day in the United States, over a half of billion pounds of laundry are done. That is truly a LOT of laundry.
So after being more impressed by that even larger number, I took my musings a step further and wondered “How many people do I know who actually LIKE to do laundry?” I then counted on one hand the number of people who I knew that actually enjoyed doing laundry. Guessing that of the 100 million people or so in this country who actually do the laundry in their household, I think it’s safe to say that at least 90 million of them don’t like doing laundry at all.
So what does all of this mean? Well, it means that collectively people are spending a huge number of hours each week on a task that they would prefer not to have to do. Think of what these people could be doing if they didn’t have to spend that time each week doing their laundry. What if there was an affordable option to have their laundry professionally done?
Well, think about it. If you had several hours per week to work on something other than laundry, what could and would you do with it? Four or five hours doesn’t seem like much but when you consider gaining that much free time each week it adds up in a hurry.
Four hours per week is over 200 hours per year. That’s collectively more than five 40-hour work weeks each year. What could you do with that kind of time? You could spend it accomplishing those things in life that you want to do, but never really seem to be able to find the time for. You could improve your quality of life and help make this world a better place. You could:
- Spend more quality time with your kids (or grandkids)
- Spend some quality time alone with your significant other
- Be creative – Practice your piano, paint a landscape, write a short story
- Volunteer at your local church or charity or social cause
- Help out a neighbor in need
The possibilities are endless but I think you get the point. There are many ways you could improve your life while making the world a better place. With all those people who don’t enjoy doing laundry, imagine if we were able to free up all of those hours for all of those people and allow them that time to improve their lives while improving their world. Think of the impact it would make today on the world we’re leaving to our kids. What’s more important than that?
