Green doesn't always have to mean painful sacrifice, right? Back in August we shared a couple of tips for greening your laundry routine. Prime among those suggestions was to abandon the dryer altogether and switch to line drying, for even half the year. Some of you were already doing this, others patronized laundromats and balked (understandably) at the idea of lugging home wet clothes, and still others didn’t appreciate the hefty price tag on a bells-and-whistles drying rack.

Thanks to iVillage, we’ve found another way to save energy while getting your clothes dry: throw a couple of dry, clean towels in with your dryer load. The dry towels will absorb the excess water from the wet clothes and thus shorten your drying time.

We're pleased with this brilliant compromise entailing a relatively low lifestyle impact.

Image: iVillage