GREEN TIP #11

The latest in our series of easy ways to help the environment

Don’t get taken to the cleaners: Most dry-cleaning solvents are highly toxic. Haven’t you noticed the weird smell and the scratchy feeling you get in your throat when you go to pick up clothes at the cleaners? There’s an unnerving list of chemicals used in the dry-cleaning process. Both perchloroethylene (perc) and petroleum-based solvents are toxic and should be avoided. These chemicals remain in your clothes long after you bring them home and put them next to your skin.
Greenpeace reports that more than one million people in the United States are at risk from unsafe levels of perc in their homes. In Canada, “environmentally friendly dry cleaning” is almost always false advertising. There are only eight dry-cleaning outlets in the entire country that actually fit the bill. Look for dry cleaners that use the GreenEarth dry-cleaning process, the only safe, non-toxic way to dry clean clothes. See http://www.ecocleaners.ca/ for more information.
Many items labeled “Dry Clean Only” can actually be washed by hand in cold water. If not, search out a cleaner in your area that uses GreenEarth technology. Many are starting to practice wet cleaning, using steam, heat and natural products to clean your clothes.
Don’t get taken to the cleaners. And if you must, find a GreenEarth dry cleaner or explore wet cleaning as an alternative.
(Source: Green Tips: How to Save Money and the Planet, published by Green Living Enterprises)