Besides the silcone based cleaning system, other alternatives to petroleum based dry cleaning exist as well, including, amazingly, a method which uses a compressed liquid form of carbon dioxide in a sealed system. Currently the equipment for this is too costly for small businesses, and so is not available in most places. A friend tipped me off to a place in LA using it, that picks up and delivers once a week in Santa Barbara - more carbon intensive than local, perhaps, but not if we all individually made special trips to the cleaners. To address that issue, Ablitt's has a frequently used pickup and delivery service, with careful routing to limit the drive.
Wet cleaning. a more labor intensive process, is widely available now (Ablitt's offers this too, as do other local cleaners) and it is also environmentally friendly. It employs specialized equipment and gentle cleaning agents along with less water than regular washing. Many garments do not actually require dry cleaning, if handled with care.
And those other aspects of dry-cleaning that have an impact? Sasha Ablitt is concerned with them too. Customers are encouraged to return their hangers and plastic bags, and both are reused or recycled. A buyer picks up the baled plastic.
I didn't set out to write an ad for one business in Santa Barbara, and I’ve no doubt there are others that are environmentally conscious, since dry-cleaning has had a pretty dirty image for a long time. But my tour of one facility was the basis for this research, and for a sense of hope. Some business owners and operators are always looking for healthier alternatives for us and the planet, especially when consumers ask for them. With greater awareness we are slowly rising above our polluting ways. Well, at least some are.
http://www.epa.gov/dfe/pubs/garment/wsgc/wetclean.htm
http://eartheasy.com/wear_tips.htm
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Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer, eco-person
"Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better. It's not."
-- The Lorax, Children's book by Dr. Seuss