Eco-Friendly Car Washing

If you ever asked yourself which is the most Eco-Friendly way to wash your car, either you doing it yourself at home or taking your car to a local car wash; then there are a few things you should have in consideration.

If you chose to do you car washing in your driveway, you should keep in mind that all of the soap, dirt and oily grit runs along the curb; the storm drain and eventually into our lakes, rivers, creeks and streams. Causing an extreme pollution, poisoning the aquatic life and creating in this way an ecosystem havoc. The best way to “act Green” when car washing at home is by using biodegradable soap or, even better, you can make your own mixing. How? simply mix one cup of liquid dishwashing detergent and 3/4 cup of powdered laundry detergent (each one of them should be chlorine and phosphate free as well as non petroleum based) with three gallons of water; this mix can be used with over exterior car surfaces.

Another possibility is to use waterless car wash products, these are especially handy for spot cleaning and mostly are applied via spray bottle and then wiped off with a cloth. By cleaning your car in this way you, not only avoid all together the issue of water contamination but you also do avoid the waste of gallons of water.

If your choice instead is to take your car to the local car wash store, you’ll be happy to know that federal laws in both U.S. and Canada require that commercial carwash facilities drain the water into sewer systems, so that the water can get treated before it reaches back the rivers, lakes and streams. Reports show as well that the automatic car washes use less than the half of the water that is commonly used when washing a vehicule at home; not to mention that many places also re-use the rinse water.

So remember, next time you plan to wash your car, think Eco-Car Wash!