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Green Dry Cleaning

What are the origins of dry cleaning?
As the story goes, in 1848 a tailor spilled turpentine on a heavily stained tablecloth and noticed its cleaning powers. To this day, garments are dry cleaned with chemicals without any use of water. The most commonly used chemical in dry cleaning is called Perchloroethylene (or PERC).

What is so bad about PERC?
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified PERC as a toxic ground water and air contaminant, as well as a carcinogen. In 2010, the State of California will ban the purchase and use of new PERC machines due to its harmful effect on both human health and the environment.

How prevalent is PERC in the dry cleaning industry?
The dry cleaning industry is the largest user of PERC in the United States, and approximately 85% of dry cleaning plants use PERC as their primary solvent. Exposure to PERC occurs through its release into air, water, land and groundwater. Exposure also occurs from spending time in dry cleaning facilities that use PERC, or bringing garments dry cleaned with PERC into your home.

What type of cleaning methods does GreenStreets use?
GreenStreets uses both wet cleaning as well as dry cleaning with an alternative hydrocarbon-based solvent called EcoSolv®. EcoSolv is a non-toxic and odorless dry cleaning fluid that does not pollute the air, soil or water. All waste by-products are collected by licensed recycling companies.  Wet cleaning is a non-toxic, environmentally safe alternative to dry cleaning which uses computer controlled washing machines and biodegradable soaps which are specialized for different fabric and fiber types.

Don't hydrocarbon products like EcoSolv generate VOCs that can contribute to global warming?
Yes, VOCs are a by-product of hydrocarbons.  However, our advanced dry cleaning equipment is designed to recapture all hydrocarbon so none is released into the air.  All recaptured hydrocarbons are given to licensed recycling companies. 

Why don't we exclusively use wet-cleaning?
We do not offer wet cleaning for all garments do to the possibility of damage.  Current wet cleaning technology may result in color loss and shrinkage of many dry cleanable garments.  We also have reservations about the water usage in wet cleaning.  About 6 ounces of dry cleaning solvent can clean as much as the 18 gallons of water needed in wet cleaning. However, when we can exclusively offer a quality wet cleaning system that consumes less water that meets the needs of our customers, we will do so.

Are your laundered shirts also green?
Yes. GreenStreets is one of the only cleaners in the Bay Area to use a non-toxic cleaning detergent from Seventh Generation™. Seventh Generation’s plant-derived laundry detergent is tough on dirt but gentle on both your clothes and the environment. The detergent is non-toxic, biodegradable, and contains no phosphates, artificial fragrances or dyes.

Do we recycle hangers and plastic bags?
GreenStreets offers hanger and plastic recycling.  We encourage our customers to recycle by giving a $.10 credit for each recycled hanger, even if it is from another dry cleaning establishment.  Additionally, while most dry cleaners use a plastic bag that is not recyclable, GreenStreets exclusively uses a recyclable poly bag made from biodegradable materials which is manufactured by Epsilon.  We take back all plastic bags and have them recycled by Allied.

What else are we doing for the environment?
All new GreenStreets vehicles are of the highest fuel efficiency in their class.  We are in the process of changing out our lighting to ultra-efficient lights which will reduce our carbon footprint by 8,368 lb/yr.  In the coming months we will be one of the first dry cleaners in the area to preheat our steam and water with solar power.

The time to change to GreenStreets is now.

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