The fact of the matter is that the absolute
greenest way to dry clothes is on a line, but it doesn't always work. Some of us don't have space and some of us endure long, cold winters (when clothes would quickly turn to sheets of ice). Unfortunately, the
Energy Star program doesn't rate dryers because they've found they're all very similar in their
energy use (although that may change in the near future), so picking a
greener dryer is an act of independent research. The
greener clothes dryers below feature elements that make their automatic drying modes most effective---the
best way to dry clothes according to Energy Star---and prevent clothes from spinning after they've already dried. You can also keep an eye out for dryers with
areas for air drying and
easy-to-change lint traps (changing the lint trap regularly can result in serious energy savings).