Start singing that ‘Car Wash’ song

July 23rd, 2009 at 06:28am Jennie Pollock

Often you hear that “going green” is the cheaper option. Or at least that’s what my dad says when he stopped mowing part of the lawn.

This summer, many folks are washing their cars in their driveways. While that may seem like the recessionista way to go, it’s worse for the environment than going to the car wash.

This is how Real Simple breaks it down:

When you scrub your sedan at home, the dirty water, tinged with traces of motor oil, antifreeze and gasoline that your car has picked up on the road, runs down the driveway and into storm drains, which empty into local rivers and creeks. This runoff can coat the gills of fish (and tadpoles!) in these smaller waterways, suffocating them. Detergents also cause harm.

On the other hand, the runoff produced by an automatic car wash is subject to wastewater laws. That means either it goes to the local sewage-treatment plant, where it is filtered and cleaned, just like the water from your pipes at home, or it is recycled on-site by the business. The leftover gunk is disposed of at a landfill. Automatic car washes also tend to use as little as 30 gallons of water per car; at home, with a regular garden hose, you’ll use that amount of water in about four minutes. So give yourself a guilt-free break and let the pros handle the job.

I also found these suggestions on About.com:

If you must wash your car at home, choose a biodegradable soap specifically formulated for automotive parts, such as Simple Green’s Car Wash or Gliptone’s Wash ‘n Glow. Or you can make your own biodegradable car wash by mixing one cup of liquid dishwashing detergent and 3/4 cup of powdered laundry detergent (each should be chlorine- and phosphate-free and non-petroleum-based) with three gallons of water. This concentrate can then be used sparingly with water over exterior car surfaces.

Even when using green-friendly cleaners, it is better to avoid the driveway and instead wash your car on your lawn or over dirt so that the toxic waste water can be absorbed and neutralized in soil instead of flowing directly into storm drains or open water bodies. Also, try to sop up or disperse those sudsy puddles that remain after you’re done. They contain toxic residues and can tempt thirsty animals.

One way to avoid such problems altogether is to wash your car using any number of waterless formulas available, which are especially handy for spot cleaning and are applied via spray bottle and then wiped off with a cloth. Freedom Waterless Car Wash is a leading product in this growing field.

One last caution: Kids and parents planning a fund-raising car wash event should know that they might be violating clean water laws if run-off is not contained and disposed of properly. Washington’s Puget Sound Carwash Association, for one, allows fund-raisers to sell tickets redeemable at local car washes, enabling the organizations to still make money while keeping dry and keeping local waterways clean.

Entry Filed under: Green home