by David Struminger

What is good for the environment is bad for business. What is good for business is bad for the environment. In public debate after debate we hear that taking the necessary steps to protect the environment devastates the bottom line. At least those are the prevailing arguments.

Surveys bear this out. An Associated Press/Stanford University poll found that 65 percent of Americans felt that U.S. businesses harmed the environment at least “moderately.” Some 44 percent of respondents said they disapproved of the way businesses handled issues involving the environment. Only 7 percent said business helped the environment “a lot” or “greatly;” 62 percent characterized this support as little to none.

It is time these perceptions change. Doing right by the environment can be a sound business strategy. Every business executive I know wants to reduce his energy and water usage costs so those dollars can be used to grow the business. From a personal perspective, every business executive out there wants a clean, safe community in which to raise a family.

Local businesses recognize they are the economic engine that provides our employment base. They have a vested interest in environmental stewardship because they want to attract talented workers. They can only accomplish this if they do their part for the environment where they work and live.

This is nothing new. For example, the textile rental industry, in which I work, has reduced solid waste for years. We rent cloth napkins and towels and other reusable textiles and provide commercial laundry service. Our textiles are long-lasting alternatives to disposable products with short lives that quickly end up in landfills.

Because we do so much laundry for so many businesses, we provide huge economies of scale in the use of water, electricity, and detergent.

In addition, we are reducing strain on the environment by using more efficient plant equipment. We have documented our improvements. This year, we completed the first decade of the Laundry Environmental Stewardship Program (LaundryESP). It is a partnership between the Textile Rental Services Association, the industries national trade group, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Our industry committed to 10 percent reductions in the amount of water and energy needed to clean a pound of laundry. Over the intervening ten years we achieved 28 and 14 percent drops, respectively. We decreased our wastewater pollutant volume to sewers by 43 percent and reduced greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent. And we increased our use of environmentally friendly wash chemicals, such as peroxide bleach (a substitute for chlorine), up 45 percent.

Every business needs to become more efficient in its use of water and energy. All must examine the wide-ranging impacts of their production on the environment. It makes business sense – cut operating costs and invest those monies in new opportunities to increase competitiveness.

In undertaking this exercise, more businesses need to publicize their achievements and lead by example. Not to aggrandize the industry, but to apply best environmental practices which the public can often also adopt.

For example, in our industry, we do small, special loads, when a customer needs a few goods washed immediately. Normally, we would use a small machine for such a job. But all of our “pony” washers might be busy at the time. Still, we can accommodate this request with one of our newer washers that use sensors to fill the machine with just enough water to clean the small load.

Given the same circumstance in your home laundry, what would you do? If your washing machine is older, you might set it to handle a smaller load. That will economize on water, but not very well. According to Waterwise, the U.K. conservation nonprofit, some half-loads use almost as much water as a full load. And two half-loads will use more water and energy than a full one. The EPA estimates that washing full loads saves a family of four more than 3,400 gallons of water each year.

You may have invested in a new machine that has the same optimization capability as our industrial-size washer. If not, try to postpone household laundry until you have a full load. As I have seen in my business and as many consumers have learned, “going green” does not come easy. But in the long run, it saves the planet and your money.