Green Hands USA: America Volunteers

Right now, there aren't too many ways to effectively dry your laundry. You can stick your damp clothes in the dryer, to varying degrees of success, or you can leave them out to air-dry, to (say it with me now) varying degrees of success.

But maybe there's a better way. And maybe you can think of it. And maybe, just maybe, you can win thousands of dollars in the process.

The prize money ($4,500 for top place, plus $5,500 in other prizes) comes from Levi Strauss & Co.'s "Care to Air Design Challenge." The jeans makers want people to find ways to make line drying (or air drying) more efficient and user-friendly. The contest seeks "innovative, covetable and sustainable" ways that people can dry their clothes.

Entries are due on July 31, but you can also go ahead and start voting on the ideas that have already been submitted.

Why is Levi Strauss holding this contest? They found that only 40% of the eco-footprint for a pair of jeans comes from manufacturing and shipping. The rest comes from the consumers, and 80% of the carbon footprint you create by washing your jeans comes from drying them.

So do you have an idea? Give it a shot and enter. You never know, you could just change the world (or at least the way we do laundry) in the process.