How-to: Wash Your Car, While Staying Eco-Friendly
True or False: It’s more eco-friendly to wash your car in your driveway than to use a commercial car wash?
False. While many people think that it saves both water and energy to wash your car at home, more often than not it actually takes more.
Big Green Purse blogger, Diane MacEachern, points out, “When you wash your car in your driveway or on the street, the wash and rinse water – loaded with dirt, exhaust fumes, oil and detergent – runs off down the storm drain and eventually into rivers, lakes and streams. All that dirt can contaminate the water and threaten the fish, birds and other wildlife that live there.”
So how can you wash your car while staying eco-friendly?
There are a few options:
1. Head to your local commercial car wash station. By law, these establishments must allow water to drain into a sewage system, where it can be treated and re-released into the environment. Furthermore, these stations often use high-pressure nozzles to reduce the amount of water used.
2. Wipe down your car when it rains. MacEachern suggests this trick: “The rain loosens the dirt and grime; I wipe off the vehicle with towels I can launder. When the rain stops, the car is clean. It didn’t cost me anything, and it didn’t pollute, either.“
3. Use a waterless solution. Freedom Waterless Car Wash works like a glass cleaner – simply spray on, rub in and wipe off. No water needed (just a little extra elbow grease)!
If you decide to go with the waterless solution, you’ll probably be at if for a while — make sure you have entertainment by bringing along your Soulra XL! The iPod/iPhone speaker dock has a solar panel that will keep your music playing all day, even if you don’t have a plug-in nearby.
What eco-friendly car washing tips do you have? Please share them by leaving a comment!
i always prefer to wash my car myself. plenty of reasons to support my comment.
The satisfaction you get after cleaning your car with your own hand is second to none. And you take careof all nooks and corners of the car where the dirt could be hidden.
Always use a microfiber and adopt 2 bucket approach.
Every sunday afternoon is car wash for me. Using quality products give my car a mirror shine and keeps the pain surface safe and clear.