The Green Spot

I’ll bet you never gave much thought to the environment when you wash your car.  In fact washing your car can be very harmful to the environment especially if you run through the standard automated car wash. 

We use a lot of water washing our vehicle.  This water is left to flow into our sewage systems.  While excess water is simply wasteful when you add the dirt, grime, oil, soap and the other residuals that wash off your vehicle you have a rather nasty soup.  Now considering most people will wash their car several times a month that’s a lot of soup running into our sewage system.

There is a green solution to the traditional car wash.  Consider applying some or all of the following ideas and start your own personal green revolution.

1. Wash your vehicle at home.  Drive your car up onto the lawn (it won’t hurt for an hour or so) or onto a well gravelled area and wash it there.  The idea here is that the water will be filtered through the soil before it reaches our natural water systems again.  As a bonus if you are on the grass it should cut back on the lawn watering.
2. Use biodegradable and phosphate-free soap.  There are some out there.  Read the soap labels carefully and make sure you’re getting what you want.  Be aware that some soaps have chemicals in them that can be harmful to your lawn while others are beneficial.  As a truly green alternative try washing your car without soap.
3. Control the water.  Use an adjustable spray nozzle or even better a cloth and bucket, to control the amount of water you use.  There is really no reason to have the water running while you scrub.  Use the hose just to rinse your vehicle off when you are done and you will find you use half the water to do the same job.
4. Consider the time of day.  This may seem a moot point but every little bit helps.  Plan to wash your car in the morning or evening when the sun is not so hot.  The thought here is that the metal on your vehicle can get really hot in the sun causing the water to evaporate before it can effectively rinse away the soap and dirt from the car.  So by washing your vehicle when its cooler, or at least in the shade, you will get a better wash as well as save some water.

Vehicles mean different things to different people.  For some they are a luxury, for others a convenience or a status symbol.  What ever it means to you remember vehicles have a direct effect on our environment in more ways than one.

These are just a few easy ways to make one aspect of owning a vehicle a little greener.  You could take it a step further and cut back on the number of times you wash your car.  After all, how dirty does a vehicle get driving around on pavement?  My general rule of thumb is: if you can still see out the windows and the license plate is visible then I’m good for another week.

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