Would you feel guilty if your toilet was “phantom flushing” or slowly leaking gallons of water a day?

Leak Alertor

We would, and we’d be concerned about the costs on our water bill too.

A Philadelphia-area company feels our pain. The company, nth Solutions, has invented the Leak Alertor to let you know when the water closet is out of control, so you can get in there and fix the flap or that other thinga-majig that makes the toilet behave.

Nth Solutions’ staff has done a lot of research on this topic of wasted water too. They report that at any given time, one in five toilets in the US is leaking. So in the US, where the residential person-to-commode ratio is pretty high, 50 million toilets might be silently leaking.

That info comes from the American Water Works Association, an industry association that is committed to clean, safe water (and a thriving water industry). If it’s true, and we’re guessing the AWWA is in a position to know, you can start to see why you might need a Leak Alertor.

Still, we asked Eric L. Canfield, president of nth Solutions, to give us a little more to go on and he did.

Leaking toilets, he said, are the number one cause of high water bills and the average leaking toilet can waste hundreds of gallons of water a day or enough to fill a couple swimming pools if left to leak away for a year or so.

Yikes, you’d have to take a lot of one-minute showers to pay back that water debt!

But, still, we respectfully prodded Canfield: Wouldn’t I know it if my toilet were leaking? Wouldn’t it wake me up at night with a faint little whiney sound?

No, he said, it wouldn’t necessarily alert you. (But the Leak Alertor would, with a little red light.) Many leaks are silent. Furthermore, he explained, many people with less than perfect hearing might not catch a leaky toilet, and others, who do hear that “phantom flush” misinterpret it and think all is well in water closet land.

And so, Canfield has the solution, a water-conserving, made-in-America solution that’s a bit of a hard sell in these times, but does only cost $19.95: The Leak Alertor, installable in less than a minute, without tools.

Who knew?

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

When it comes to saving water, we all know that the commode can be a sieve, without actually being a sieve. In a typical household – unless people are obsessively washing clothes or taking large baths — more water is used to flush the toilets than for any other single use.

According to the US EPA, toilet water consumes  about 27 percent of all the water used in a typical household. So you might say, the throne is king.

But this is one Royal Flush you don’t want.

You’ve likely heard about potential solutions. You could enact a household rule, “When it’s yellow…” If you’ve got the constitution for it. But that might leave squeamish families blushing, and still flushing.

You could stick bricks in the back of the tank, but experts advise against that, saying the clay chaff that will be released could cause a bigger problem by getting caught in that pesky flap mechanism (which tends to go bad unprompted anyway). Then a running toilet would run away with all your water savings.

Perfect Flush (Image: Brondell)

Or you could bring home a solution that you’ve likely seen in airports and other public buildings, a demi-flush toilet attachment that allows you to choose when you need half a flush and when you need a whole flush.

Brondell, a company that develops eco-friendly bathroom innovations is offering just such a device for home use. Its “Perfect Flush” toilet retrofitting kit allows you to cut in half the water used to flush, whether you have an old-style 3.5 gallon toilet or a newer 1.6 gallon.

Retailing at around $99, the Perfect Flush offers a perfectly economical way to start conserving water. (No more waiting for the washer to fail so you can buy a more efficient one.)

You can buy the Perfect Flush at Amazon.com or Brondell.com. Builders can look to a handful of dealers, listed here.

The Perfect Flush control

Brondell also sells a toilet-paper saving bidet-like attachment for the toilet. Called the Swash, it uses water to help you, um, freshen up.

The Swash saves on trees. The company site reports that Americans use 34 million rolls of toilet paper every day,which requires the destruction of 221,000 trees and consumption of 255 billion gallons of water to process.

So the Swash is eco-friendly with regard to forests and water consumption even though it uses water.

Hey! Use them both and you can Swish and Flush. Not quite that Continental? Try the entry level Perfect Flush.

While cynics will say that water you flush down the toilet returns to the “water cycle,” and therefore it’s no big loss, recent reports about the feminization of fish in our waterways and the contamination of our drinking water from pharmaceuticals suggest that we give flushing a little more review. Many resources are required to cleanse the water, and certain chemicals resist water treatment. The downstream water quality seems to be degrading, because the chemicals and meds we use aren’t.

That debate aside, from a homeowner’s perspective,  the Perfect Flush’s ability to save barrels of water, also saves buckets of money.

Hotel Griffon, a water view and water saving ethos

In San Francisco, the historic Hotel Griffon recently took the plunge (or maybe we should say plunger) with Brondell, adding the Perfect Flush to its 62 guestrooms and suites.

The hotel projects that it will save 31,000 gallons of water every month or about 372,000 gallons a year.

That much water could supply around 20 average households for a year, using government figures.

(And when your toilet’s ready for replacing, you’ll find lots of dual flush options on the market.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

The Cobb County Water System in Marietta, Ga., and Kohler, maker of water faucets and other plumbing supplies, have won government recognition for their water-conserving ways.

The EPA named them among its “WaterSense” Partners of the Year. The program highlights the many ways in which organizations can advocate for saving water:

• Cobb County water officials teamed up with Kohler, Lowe’s Home Improvement stores and others, to promote Georgia’s tax holiday for WaterSense products. WaterSense products include such things as water sensors for sprinkler systems to stop needless watering; low-flow shower heads and faucets, and toilets that use less water.

• Kohler, of Kohler, Wisc., was named “Manufacturer of the Year” for earning the WaterSense label for 40 percent of the faucets it produces and 25 percent of its toilets. Like the EPA’s EnergyStar program that recognizes light bulbs and appliances that go easy on electricity, the WaterSense program labels products so consumers can select those that conserve water.

• Lowe’s was named Retailer of the Year by the program for training more than 200,000 employees to promote WaterSense products and  increasing the percentage of WaterSense labeled products in its inventory.

The EPA estimates that its 1,000-plus WaterSense partners helped Americans save more than 9.3 billion gallons of water in 2008.

The James City Service Authority in Williamsburg, Va., also was recognized for promoting water conservation, and Brian Vinchesi of Mooresvile, N.C., was named “Irrigation Partner of the Year.”

The EPA urges everyone to think about conserving water.

“Water shortage is a growing concern in the United States. By making just a few simple changes, you can not only save hundreds of dollars for yourself, but trillions of gallons of water and billions of dollars for the country,” says Virginia Lee of the WaterSense program.

For more information on the winners and how you can save water, see the WaterSense website.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and predict that it will become increasingly fashionable, practical and accepted to do away with your perfectly coiffed green velvet, water-sucking, chemically dependent lawn…and replace it with…a vegetable garden!

I’m not saying the neighbors will rush into your newly composted, tomato and potato plot with tambourines or anything, just that they might not file a homeowner’s association complaint.

There are just too many trendsetters in this arena for the concept of literally laying down roots to not take hold.

Remember the Eat the View campaign? A modest kitchen gardener in Maine and his like-minded buddies pushed through a petition with some 100,000 signers convincing the Obamas to convert some turf to veggie gardening at the White House. The presidential garden, although still surrounded by fields of grass, has been warmly watched by veggie gardeners and struck just the right note in this year of economic hardship.

Even before that eco-event, artist and free-thinker Fritz Haeg, author of Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn was lapping the country, setting up demonstration projects and appealing to everyone to consider growing food instead of ornamental grasses that drink up valuable water.

Haeg is putting out a new edition of his book, by the way, and is seeking food-growing pioneers in Zones 3,4,5, and 9. Contact him and your garden may be featured in the 2010 edition of “Edible Estates.” Contact his assistant, Claire Zitzow, in Los Angeles (323-255-5998 or go through his website.)

For more on Haeg, who’s an artist who advocates “confrontations” with the status quo via gardening (as opposed to a gardener who sees artistry in plants), see our story about him during an appearance in Austin last year.

The lawn-seizing movement isn’t all about food. Many front yards, such as those with hot Western exposures or those with Northern orientations that lack the light for growing veggies, are better appointed with native shrubs and flowers. Native gardens not only conserve water, they lure pollinators, provide shelter for wildlife and can be sustained without chemicals.

The majority of landscapers are still wedded to installing ornamental non-native grasses and exotic blooming shrubs. (And no wonder, many homeowner’s associations require certain types of turf; not to mention our own entrenchment). But some designers are stepping out of the mold.

California landscaper Rama Nayeri, who has a degree in landscape architecture from California Polytechnic State University at Pomona, has been blogging about how to kill the grass. It ain’t easy. The blog features pictures of a project in Irvine by Nayeri’s Creations Landscape Design that shows less can be more when it comes to sacking the green carpet and going native. The result (see right) is lovely. No mowing required.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

California is experiencing its third year of drought, statewide, and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which provides two-thirds of California’s fresh drinking water and yields a giant portion of the nation’s food supply, is dangerously close to running dry, water conservationists and water managers say.

Yesterday, federal officials vowed to act. During a visit to Sacramento, Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Hayes met with local interests – farmers, fisheries, families and municipalities in the region – and promised to free up more water for their use. He acknowledged that the drought has compounded a pre-existing condition – the overall degradation of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Hayes said that restoration of the vital delta is as significant as the restoration of Florida’s Everglades or the East Coast’s Chesapeake Bay.

“Not only is it a crucial ecosystem that is in peril, but more than 20 million Americans in the most populated state in the nation rely on it for their drinking water,” Hayes said. “The status quo is not sustainable.”

Help can’t come too soon. In Fresno County alone, thousands of farmers have lost income and crops due to the drought, which is now ending its third year. According to a county request for a gubernatorial “State of Emergency” proclamation in April,  due to “surface water allocations (that) have been reduced to zero percent… Fresno County farmers (will have to) fallow thousands of acres  of crop land… (and) 250,000 acres will not be farmed in 2009 due to lack of water.”

The Sacramento-San Joaquin estuary is where two of California’s largest rivers converge and intermingle with saltwater from the Pacific Ocean. It is the West Coast’s largest estuary, hosting 500 species of wildlife, including 20-plus endangered species (the salt harvest Suisun Marsh mouse and the Delta smelt among them; it also is a critical migratory channel for regional salmon). It serves cities and farms from the Bay area to the Central Coast to Southern California – encompassing approximately 738,000 acres of farmland, yielding crops such as asparagus, grain, pears, corn, hay and tomatoes, and bringing in over $500 million each year.

But with the current drought, those contrasting needs have become more pronounced. Consider that over the past three years, California’s rainfall has been 35 to 25 percent below average. The state received 63 percent of average rainfall in 2007-2008; 72 percent of the average in 2008-2009; and 75 percent by the end of June 2009 for the 2009-2010 water year.

The timing of Deputy Secretary Hayes’s visit to Sacramento couldn’t have come at a less convenient time for the city itself. After a report last week that municipal water usage has spiked over the past three years while residents’ has been restricted,  capital city officials are scrambling to figure out what happened – What caused, for instance, a 76 percent increase at one city property alone over the past two years?

The story, which appeared in the Sacramento Bee on Sunday was based on three years’ worth of metering records. It reported that at city properties overall, expenditure of the precious resource jumped by 22 percent.

The two biggest city guzzlers were a golf course and public park, and the city’s historic cemetery, where the Bee reporter noted antiquated watering systems that left wasteful pools of water.

The office of Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson has not yet responded to a request for comment by GreenRightNow. But with the U.S. Department of the Interior finally weighing in on California’s water woes – something the Bush Administration artfully dodged for eight years  - the California capital is most likely putting its nose to the grind – and trying to figure out its own civic water balance.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

We’ve been looking at the parched parts of the yard and garden, and thinking about water, that precious commodity that’s been elusive in parts of the Southwest and over-abundant in the Northeast this year. You just can’t control rainfall. But you can capture it; direct it and supplement it with conservative watering strategies.

Here are some new (or newly revised) water-saving products for eco-minded veggie and flower gardeners.

• The Weed -Free Garden Watering Blanket by Evo Organic. This product performs as promised by providing a “blanket” that prevents weeds from overtaking your vegetable garden. We tried it out this spring and found that is was, indeed, a delight to not have to yank weeds. More importantly, an embedded drip irrigation hose sewn into the blanket served as a built-in watering system that kept watering to a minimum and helped prevent water loss to evaporation. This was the ingenious part, major water savings. Now for the downside: Rainfall hit the plants but ran off the blanket or remained on the surface of the blanket. So nature’s watering system was not as effective. The plants got a drink when it rained, via wet leaves, but the ground could not get a good soaking. Did some of the rain get through the blanket? We think so, but not to the degree we would have liked. The organic fertilizer that came with blanket kit ($69.95 MSRP) seemed to work just fine. The blanket and hose seemed durable enough for a few seasons. Still, those considering this product will have to decide how much relief they want from weed-pulling versus how much they want or need  their region’s natural rainfall.

• Here’s another drip line device, the generically named Green Vegetable Watering Kit as its called on the Home Depot website. You fill this device ahead of time and it releases the water very slowly, drip-watering a row of vegetables or herbs. It’s a neat idea, perfect for people on vacation or so busy they only want to think about watering the garden periodically. We’re not sure how this would hold up in a garden visited by aggressive little creatures or baked by a hot summer sun, and no one has reviewed it yet. It does look a little like something you could almost make yourself (except then it would certainly leak.) The price is reasonable enough ($19.99) to persuade some people to give it a try, people who’d rather come home to a garden salad than a garden demanding attention.

• We got pretty excited about this Waterstone Rain Barrel when we realized it could be used in places where neighbors might quibble with a big black plastic rain barrel (like the one we bought because its a recycled food container but had to hide behind a bush). Here is a device that exists to blend in. A spokesman for Emsco, the company that makes it, says sales are growing daily. Emsco offers other faux rock rain barrels as part of its “Rain Rescue” line, some in bigger sizes, as well as rocks for various garden uses. We like this one because it has a clear purpose, comes equipped with a diverter and hose, is made with 25 percent recycled resins and holds 40 gallons of rainwater — not bad for a rock. It’s also available at Home Depot ($99).

• We also were happy to find Algreen’s 81002 Agua Rain Water Collection and Storage System (who names these things?) This rain barrel looks like a large, nicely designed clay pot, something you might actually put out on the patio as decor. But it’s made of plastic, so it can hold rainwater. This one removes any aesthetic arguments against using a rain barrel that cranky neighbors might level at you. Now we’re past blending in, into standing out; but the functionality remains. This one also holds 50 gallons of rainwater and comes reasonably priced at Amazon (where it was $123 today). Amazon buyers give this this pot/barrel good reviews and vouch for it’s clay look “especially from a distance.” Some buyers did not like the “cheap hose” that came attached, and it doesn’t boast any recycled plastic (we’re also not sure how you get flowers to grow on top — maybe those are plastic too?). Still when you’ve got good looks…

• Even with the market bursting with all these innovative rain barrel reconfigurations, it’s nice to know you can still get a traditional-looking barrel. This Rain Wizard Rain Barrel (see, the names don’t seem to match the products at all) mimics a whiskey barrel and might look quite good with certain rustic architecture. It comes in four colors including a black that’s made from recycled plastic or a neighbor-pleasing oak or terra cotta. Sold by eco-retailer Abundant Earth, it holds 50 gallons, shimmies up against the foundation and has a screened top where the rain gutter is attached. (Letting the water get a little air can be a good thing.)

If it happens that a faux whiskey barrel doesn’t meld well with your modern suburban stucco home, there are a gazillion other new looks in rain barrels, as well as specially designed water collectors (collapsible, made to fit in a corner, flat-backed, brightly colored, not brightly colored). You can see a full range by The Find shopping search engine.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Feeling guilty about your bottled water? Or worried that it is not as pure as the pastoral scene on the label implies? Your worries are justified. Bottled water is unregulated in the US, and often as not, it is just filtered tap water – with a heavier carbon footprint thanks to the requisite plastic container and the shipping.

Luckily, just as you’re re-evaluating this resource-intensive habit, so is everyone else, from the cities that have passed bottled water taxes (hello Chicago) to the bottled water companies themselves, to entrepreneurs trying to figure a better way.

Culligan, the big kahuna of bottled water service companies now makes a cooler that hooks up to your tap – an apparent concession that the days of carting around those big blue bottles are numbered.

But one of the most unique solutions to filling your cup without filling the landfill may be generating your own purified water. You can do that by tapping into the humidity in the air with an Atmospheric Water Generator, which pulls water from “thin air,” as long as that air registers at least 35 percent humidity.

We tested such a water generator, called the Ecoloblue 28 (see photo, right). At first, it was hard to believe that this water was just materializing in our kitchen. It tasted fresh, crisp and cool, outperforming the stuff that came through our refrigerator’s charcoal filter.

We just loved that we were generating our own water, like being off-grid with the electricity. Not being dependent on the tap, we had no worries about fluctuations in the local water supply and the additives you can’t turn down, like the fluoride and chlorine in so many city systems. Nor did we have to worry that our water contained traces of medications, like those found in tap water tested during an AP investigation last year. Tap water, for the record, is still considered basically safe, but it varies, by city, region and within time frames. Same for bottled water; it varies by label but largely comes from tap water, and can be contaminated too as tests by the Environmental Working Group found. Or it might be pure as the snow — in the Alps; so add a jet ride to its carbon footprint.

The Natural Resources Defense Council’s report, Tap Water Quality and Safety, endorses tap water, but with caveats for pregnant women and older people and people with special conditions. Makes you wonder.

But we wanted to know more about the Ecoloblue water, and what it did or did not contain. Is pulling water from air a perfectly pure proposition? Our home water tests showed that the water generated was free of chlorine, nitrates/nitrates, sediment, suggesting that the machine’s multiple filter system was doing its job. At one point, there was a buildup in the intake area, the result of one filter that hadn’t been prepared properly at the factory. That problem has since been fixed. New tech sometimes needs tweaking. (For more on our personal take on using the Ecoloblue machine, see Ecoloblue: Our Home Test.)

HOW IT WORKS

So how do these AWGs produce water? It’s simple de-humidification, followed by complex filtration. The reason the water generated tasted so pure — and professional tests show that it meets or beats water compliance standards  in several countries — is no mystery. After the machine condenses the water from the air, it runs it through a sophisticated system of three carbon filters, one reverse-osmosis filter and three UV lights to kill or trap any germs, dust, pollen or air pollutants that might float in or build up in the storage tanks.

“The object is to make sure everybody can use the water regardless of the environment they’re living in,” says Ecoloblue CEO Henri-James Tieleman. So if you have cat dander floating around, or Uncle Joe is standing nearby with a cigar or you happen to live in a high air pollution area, the Ecoloblue will be impervious. Even in Shanghai, where the machine was deliberately tested outdoors, it produced pure water, according to one of several water tests the company has commissioned in the US, China, Australia and the UK.

“We are complying even with polluted air in Shanghai, what else (other proof) do we need to get?” asks Tieleman.

But are four filters and three UV lights, and all that, really necessary?

“Do you like the water you’re drinking?” asks Tieleman, a native of The Netherlands and apparent master of the non-rhetorical question. “I would say this is why you like it, because it went through all this process” in which the filters, lights and collection uptake are engineered, timed and strategically placed to work together.

If anyone knows about energy-efficient, environmentally responsible buildings, it’s the U.S. Green Building Council. The booming non-profit wrote the book when it comes to guiding and recognizing those who create the world’s greenest buildings.

It should come as no surprise, then, that the council’s new headquarters in Washington, D.C., has received their own highest rating for environmentally smart buildings – platinum.

Before you assume they’re tooting their own horn, a look at all of the green elements of the council’s new 75,000-square-foot office may allay suspicions. (Besides, if they didn’t build the most energy-efficient and environmentally sound building possible, more than a few fingers would wag.)

The building includes:

• 100 percent underground parking (thus, no heat-island effect) and proximity to public transportation.
• A two-story water feature in the airy, open lobby to bring the outdoors inside.  Floor-to-ceiling glass windows offer every office and cubicle daylight and a view outdoors. The windows’ electronic shades reduce glare and automatically adjust based on exterior light.
• An elevator lobby, reception and conference areas covered in 500-year-old gumwood that was, according to a release from the council, salvaged from the Tennessee River. A two-story portion of the gumwood contains the USGBC logo.
• Water use was decreased by 40 percent with the help of low-flow faucets and shower heads, two-way flushing systems on toilets and waterless urinals.
• Zoning controls that employees can use to control temperature provide energy savings, as do sensors that turn lights off when offices are empty (or dim and turn off when daylight is bright).
• Furnishings and finishes are all green: wall panels made of recycled polyesters, carpet tile that is 60 percent recycled, countertops of 100 percent recycled glass. Paint, flooring and furnishings do not add chemicals to the air, and there are CO2 sensors.
• An impressive 95 percent of the construction and demolition debris from the construction was reconstituted, never nearing a landfill.
• A dashboard system that provides constant feedback on the building’s energy use.
• A “learning pathway” explains the green design techniques of the building. A “material wall” shows every material used in the offices, including where it came from and how it’s used.
• A “performance dashboard” – a flat-panel TV – shows how the building works, and its efficiency.
• The “progress wall” explains and outlines the council’s function and its LEED (Leadership in Energy Efficiency & Design) certification system, which recognizes buildings for their green design, operations, location and maintenance. The building also has an “environmental” timeline showing centuries of green milestones.
• The “Knowledge Center” replaces the conventional library. It’s a “smart room” chock full of examples of and reading material about green technology.
• The council’s employees moved into their new building in March. They needed more space, their statement says, because of more than 35,000 projects participating in their LEED system (which adds up to more than 5.6 billion square feet of construction in every U.S. state and 91 countries).

The green building industry, the council says, is expected to grow to $60 billion by next year.

The council brings together builders and environmentalists, elected officials, corporations and others to help make buildings – new or retrofitted — more cost-efficient and environmentally sound. They provide green guidance and recognition for everything from houses and commercial buildings, neighborhoods and schools, retail and healthcare facilities. Buildings in the U.S. suck up a lot of energy – some estimates put the carbon footprint of buildings at about 40 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions –so LEED certification can help reduce carbon footprints.

In April, the council launched a new version of its LEED program, with expanded “credit points” for various design elements, and in some cases, stricter requirements.

Photos courtesy United States Green Building Council

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

The Sears Tower is undergoing a renovation of massive proportions. As the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, the Sears Tower is already relatively eco-friendly, meeting Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria. But now it is aiming to be even greener.

American Landmark Properties, owner of the Sears Tower, has partnered with Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture to design substantial green renovations. The five-year project, estimated to cost $350 million and create 3,600 jobs, aims to turn the iconic tower a green leader whose example can be emulated by skyscrapers around the world, according to a website created to detail the changes.

The renovations focus on reducing energy use and carbon dioxide emissions. Water usage by 24 million gallons per year and electricity usage will be cut by 80%, for a total energy savings of 68 million kWh per year, according to a press release.

The 1,450 foot tall Sears Tower, at 233 S. Wacker Drive in downtown Chicago, will undergo renovations in every area of the building from the ground up:

• All 16,000 single-pane windows will be replaced with new glazed windows that will reduce heating costs. The 104 elevators and 15 escalators will be modernized to require less energy to power.
• Lighting systems will be improved through daylight harvesting, a method that automatically dims lighting based on the amount of sunlight coming into the room.
• Water savings will include an upgrade in restroom features, a condensation recovery system, and water efficient landscaping.
• The buildings gas boilers also will be upgraded to new systems that use fuel cell technologies.
• Solar panels, that will heat the buildings water, will be installed on the roofs. The roof also will be covered by 30,000 – 35,000 square feet of gardens. Wind turbines will be placed atop the building as an alternative energy source.

The 36-year-old Sears Tower is not only blazing a new, greener trail, its managers are trying to educate the public as well. The renovations include plans for a Sustainable Technology Learning Center. This will be open everyone, and is intended help people learn about importance of saving energy and money, and how to do it.

The renovations, beginning immediately, also include a luxury green 500-room hotel that will be located next to the Sears Tower.

(Photo credit: Sears Tower.com.)

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

You know your car is a gas hound. But what about the water it requires?

Keeping a car clean, whether you rinse it off in your driveway or get it scrubbed at a professional wash, uses buckets of agua, more than you might realize.

If you’re careful, washing your car at home might use 10 gallons of water, but probably more like 25 or 50. A car wash can use much more, in the range of 75 to 100 gallons.

The International Car Wash Association says car washes are not a problem because the water consumed at car washes is recycled and reused. Water is properly disposed of via the sewer system where it can be treated and returned to circulation, the association says. (This is not the case with home car washing, which we’ll get to.)

However, just as foregoing paper is more effective at saving forests than using recycled paper, the greenest car wash is the one that doesn’t use water at all.

The cutting edge of the car cleaning biz has been spawning products that clean and polish your car without water, and lately, car washes that do the same.

Take Houston’s new car detailing service and car wash, Eco-Suds Hand Car Wash.

This new service in Northwest Houston, uses a water-based cleaning solution that is non-hazardous and biodegradable. The formula dissolves dirt and the residue is easily wiped off with a microfiber cloth. The process doesn’t scratch because polymers enwrap the dirt. The car is wiped clean and buffed, leaving it smooth and shiny (see photo above), says Kevin Dunn, co-owner of the Eco-Suds Hand Car Wash.

Dunn touts the service as eco-friendly on two counts — it avoids toxic runoff because the cleaning solution does not contain any oil, mineral spirits or kerosene, harmful chemicals that turn up in competitor’s formulas. And, the process is virtually water-less (there’s some water in the solution), saving the community dozens of gallons of water for each car and truck cleaned.

“According to our estimates, we believe we have saved roughly 90,000 gallons since we opened in mid-February,” he said. “Not too bad for one single location in just three months.”

As the Eco-Suds website notes, conventional car washes cannot compete with that level of water conservation because even their recycled water is typically mixed with 40 to 80 gallons of fresh water for each new car washed.

Eco-Suds is frugal with natural resources, but uses significant human capital, employing hand washers. It competes with both mass-market and luxury detailing services, with packages starting at $25 for an exterior wash and interior cleaning, ranging up to $225 for the “platinum package” with various levels in between.

Eco-Suds bills itself as the nation’s “first full service, eco-friendly car wash and detail” — and it is a unique stand alone facility — but it is not the first enterprise to try to create a greener model for the car wash business.

Several have gone eco by switching to greener cleaning ingredients and polishes and adding water recapture capabilities, but they’re still using large quantities of water.

A few select car washes are getting more aggressive about water use.

The Eco-Pit in San Diego is another virtually water-less car wash that uses a line of Earth-friendly products.

Seattle has Advanced Mobile, a car detailing service that uses biodegradable soaps and comes to clients, washing their cars at their location and reclaiming all the water used. The mobile aspect of this business throws a wrench into the process of assessing its carbon imprint (would it be more or the same as a drop in car wash?), but the EPA was impressed enough with its water conservation to award it a Water Efficiency Leader award in 2006.  Advanced Mobile also has outlets in Portland and Chicago.

In Nevada, the Southern Nevada Water Authority promotes car washes that reclaim or recycle their water on its Water Smart program by offering coupons to these businesses on its website.

Now, about washing your car at home. The Environmental Protection Agency and some state agencies warn against it. At least, they tell us not to wash the car or truck in the driveway because the runoff is hazardous to  the environment. The phosphates in some soaps can harm fish down the line, because they act as fertilizers, making algae grow and choking off oxygen for aquatic life. And that oily sheen you see in the rivulets running toward the storm drain (from undercarriage goo and petroleum distillates) can be a real problem for many life forms.

If you must wash at home, park on grass or gravel, so the runoff can be reabsorbed by the soil, the experts say. And use a phosphate-free soap.

It’s better to use commercial carwash, the EPA notes, because that water can be recycled and will be cleansed by local water treatment facilities before being returned to the water system or the environment.

Charity groups should do the same. Instead of setting up a DIY venture in a school parking lot, school and church groups should operate on grass or gravel, or partner with a local commercial car wash.

Even better — work with a commercial car wash that doesn’t use water.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

America’s urban centers are becoming ever greener, with the National League of Cities holding its first ever Green Cities Conference last month. While many cities have recently taken up environmental causes, some have been carrying the banner for years.

Seattle, home to such earlier innovations as the ’60s Space Needle, Microsoft, and grunge rock, is one such green leader.

In 2008, Seattle was anointed the nation’s leader in LEED-certified buildings by the US Green Building Council (USGBC), culminating an eight-year-old sustainable building policy calling for city-funded projects to be LEED-qualified at the silver level.

Seattle also can boast about its:

• Impressive bike trails system with about 30 trails and 20 bike lanes, making bike commuting commonplace in Seattle, home to the Cascade Bicycle Club, which claims to be the nation’s largest bicycle club

• Community-based home energy efficiency program, called SWITCH, that started last year and has sent neighbors door-to-door with thousands of CFL light bulbs.

• Climate initiative, begun in 2005, which sets city targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, who was elected in 2002, is a strong advocate for environmental stewardship. He introduced the city’s Climate Protection Initiative after the federal government chose to not participate in the Kyoto Protocol target for reducing climate pollution. That target is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

“I felt there was an opportunity for us to take action at a local level,” said Nickels in a recent interview.

The mayor says his “aha” moment came in 2004-05. “We had a very warm winter that year, and there wasn’t much snow in the mountains. That impacted our water supply and our power, since we rely mostly on hydroelectric power. It occurred to me that global warming affects every corner of the globe, including ours.

“This is something we urgently need to address for our future, and our children’s,” he says.

In 2006, Mayor Nickels asked other mayors to join him in the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Beginning with nine mayors, the group now numbers 910. These mayors represent more than 82 million people from all 50 states and are a “real political force that will continue to impact national policy,” he says.

Seattle CAN

Seattle Climate Action Now, or Seattle CAN, also began about this time. The city-led program partners with local businesses and organizations to provide residents with the tools needed at home and work to put an end to global warming. The Seattle CAN website helps citizens calculate their carbon footprint with a link to ZeroFootprint Seattle. Here residents can sign in and learn steps to reduce their family’s carbon footprint.

The site provides commonsense advice, such as driving less; replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent ones; turning off and unplugging computers and cellphone chargers; changing furnace and air-conditioning filters regularly; installing weather stripping anywhere there is a draft; turning down the thermostat at night and when away from home; insulating the attic; running the dishwasher only when full; installing water-saving devices such as low-flow shower heads; and reducing the size of trash by recycling and buying less stuff.

There’s also an events calendar for climate-related events like Seattle’s Celebrate Summer Streets festivals.

A recent poll shows that three out of every four Seattle residents are taking actions to lessen their carbon footprint, says the mayor (center of photo at green event this year).

“With our ‘Climate Action Now’ campaign, Seattle is making great progress engaging and motivating our residents and business to fight global warming,” Nickels says. “Last year, we distributed more than 10,000 home energy kits to our residents. Our electric utility was successful in distributing more than 1.4 million compact fluorescent bulbs to Seattle homes and businesses.”

Are you aching to put your wardrobe on the green track, but can’t see yourself wearing that pouffie bamboo eco-mini dress by the latest designer to visit the rain forest?

How about a cuddly, Earth-friendly T-shirt in “City Green” or “River Blue” instead?

Anvil Knitwear is making such eco-friendly T-shirts, in 15 styles and a range of colors — all composed of soft, U.S.-grown organic cotton. And while you won’t see them on a catwalk, they’re certain to turn up just about everywhere else you go.

Chances are you already even have an Anvil somewhere in your closet, probably bearing the name of your last sports club, bowling league, garden group or softball team. Anvil, based in New York with facilities in North and South Carolina, Honduras and Nicaragua, specializes in making cotton Ts that are nicely styled, but unadorned and ready to be customized with silk screening or embroidery. The vast majority end up stamped with someone’s group logo or motto.

Anvil, which started out as BVD (but sold the underwear brand decades ago), knows its market well. The textile company has been selling T-shirts, polos, sweatshirts and other clothing for re-branding for nearly 30 years, and was founded 130 years ago.

Its story is one example of how mainline American companies are taking sustainability to heart, and to the masses.

CEO Anthony Corsano and his executive team sensed a shift coming in the T-shirt business about five years ago. The company had been watching smaller companies offering organic T-shirts as specialty items. The shirts were typically fairly pricey and sold in “natural” un-dyed versions. They were catching on, but the price was not scalable for a mass market. The higher price of organic cotton did not fit the business model of selling large quantities — unless, of course, a large company jumped into the market, buying in quantities that could make lower prices feasible. That’s what Anvil decided to do.

“We were able to take six- to seven-dollar Ts and bring them to two- to three- dollar (wholesale) items…And that just shot it (the business) out of the cannon,” Corsano said.

Vice President of Marketing Christopher Levesque, who’d been lobbying for the company to produce a green product, took the lead on the first shirt, which was a unisex T available in 10 colors. It sold 3 million units in its first year.

“It gave us something tangible. Something we could be proud of,” Corsano said. Anvil was helping make organic cotton wear affordable and available.