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August 30, 2011
Eminently Emerald (Part 1 of 2)

CHICAGO — Not so long ago, when you looked up “green” in the dictionary, there was a brief definition about color or pigment. Today, it’s difficult to read or hear the word “green” without also thinking of the environment, of conservation, of sustainability.

When writing about greening a business operation such as a drycleaner, it’s difficult to know where to start. There are so many different ways that a cleaner could boost its environmental profile, and so many different areas that are candidates for green initiatives.

And while going green could involve a decision to invest in new equipment, chemicals or supplies, there are low-cost, common sense changes that can also make a drycleaner more enviro-friendly.

OPPORTUNITIES TO GREEN

Every part of a drycleaning operation can be engineered to be “greener.” As you examine your operation for opportunities, here are just a few things to include on your checklist:

August 18, 2011
Green More Than Just A Marketing Tool

LOS ANGELES — There’s a drycleaner in my neighborhood that brags that, “The only greener way to care for your clothes is to use a rock and a stream.”

That drycleaner has no solar panels, uses fluorescent lighting (which remains lit 24 hours a day, though the business is closed for 10 of those hours), has no reusable or even bio-degradable packaging, and is in fact a perc cleaner. Why does the business advertise itself as green? “Because consumers like green.”

And why don’t they don’t incorporate any green initiatives into their operations? “We’ve run our business the same way for 50 years, we see no reason to change.”

What, I asked, would they think if other industries operated that way: no computers, no fax machines, no remote-controlled televisions. “That’s different, that’s innovation. This green technology is only a different way of doing the same thing.”

June 8, 2011
Thank you to everyone...

Thank you to the more than 700 drycleaners and distributors who have visited our cramped 10-by-10-foot booth.

Thank you all for validating our decision to create a pouch for hangers. Your enthusiastic response has been thrilling to us.

Thank you to everyone who not only wanted a sample of our new shirt box bag, but proudly displayed it as you continued to walk the convention floor.

April 7, 2011
An Earth Day Epiphany

CHICAGO — I confess: I was once about as eco-unfriendly as you could get. I drove a gas-guzzling car, believed a light off was a light wasted, and even though the City of Los Angeles provided me with the appropriate bins, I couldn’t be bothered to separate my recyclables. What impact could one person have, anyway?

Even my initial interest in reusable drycleaning bags had nothing to do with being “green.” It was about eliminating the aggravation of the drycleaning experience.

July 7, 2010
Making The Case for Reusable Bags

At the opening-night party of the recent Southwestern Drycleaners Association (SDA) Cleaners Showcase (I go to the swankiest soirées), an official said he was going to give me one opportunity — and only one — to explain why he should use a reusable garment bag.

March 26, 2010
What's Your Shade of Green?

It's great to be "green." It sounds good; it looks good; it feels good. But is it really good? What does it really mean? Well — like anything else — it might depend on your audience.