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Content about Human behavior

March 15, 2012

LOS ANGELES — Efficiency is also about getting things done faster, easier and with less stress

LOS ANGELES — The editorial director for American Drycleaner asked if I’d write this month’s column to match up with one of the edition’s themes: energy efficiency.

“Sure,” I said, “I devote my life to being energy-efficient—although my wife more often refers to it as lazy.” I will admit to keeping the remotes when we get new cable TV boxes so I don’t need to expend the energy just looking for a single remote when there are two in the room. In the summer, we continually feed our dog treats so we can use his tail as a fan.

And I do save the need to fly to Florida by having my wife’s mom live with us. There’s a downside to it: no matter how cold we keep the house in the winter, she doesn’t talk about moving out. Her stride’s a little slower; could be age, may be frostbite.

January 20, 2010

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Whirlpool Corp. is the first company to achieve certification with a new NSF International protocol (P351) that certifies allergen reduction performance in residential and commercial family-sized clothes washers, the company says.

Washers meeting NSF Protocol P351 certification must remove at least 95% of house dust mite allergens and pet dander, heat wash water to 55º C (131º F), and be easily cleanable, corrosion-resistant and designed to avoid the accumulation of dirt and debris, Whirlpool says.

July 18, 2007

CHICAGO, Ill. — Seven out of 10 (70.4%) drycleaners don’t think that the bans against smoking indoors passing throughout the country will have any effect on the industry by eliminating an unpleasant odor that consumers want their drycleaners to remove, the most recent Wire survey says. Speaking as consumers, the same majority (70.4%) is in favor of such bans.