Maintaining a clean and healthy environment is important for not only us, but also for future generations. As laundry industry professionals, we want to do what we can to minimize our environmental impact.
While laundry is a necessity, there are multiple practices you can implement in your laundromat to minimize wasting water and energy. It’s a good idea to tackle the big problems first and focus on the essential details later.
Energy Efficient Machines
As a laundromat owner, the biggest thing that you can do to operate an eco-friendly laundry service is install energy-efficient laundry equipment.
Modern machines like Multi Load Front Load Washers and Stack Tumble Dryers from Maytag are energy-efficient machines that will minimize the amount of energy used on each cycle, through shorter cycle times, enhanced controls, and Energy Star certification.
Your customers will appreciate your efforts in reducing your carbon footprint, which gives them another reason to come back and use your services.
Eco-Friendly Laundry Products
Another way to transform your laundromat into an eco-friendly business is by avoiding the use of harmful chemicals and detergents in your machines.
We understand that this could be a little difficult since your customers are the main ones utilizing your machines, but you can encourage them to use such products by hanging up eco-friendly posters around your business and explaining to customers why they should use more natural laundry products.
Consider selling eco-friendly laundry products directly at your laundromat, making it easy and convenient for customers to use green detergents.
Encourage Customers to Think Green
Similar to encouraging customers to use certain types of laundry products, you can also recommend and influence customers to think green in other ways too. Educate customers on utilizing washers and dryers to their full capacities to lessen the waste of water and energy.
Other practices like setting the dryer on timed dry and using less detergent per load are great eco-friendly practices.
Another important tip to tell customers is to use colder water instead of hot for their washing cycle. Reports say that about 90% of a washing machine’s energy is used solely for heating up water, so if cold water is used instead of hot, your customers will be saving a whole lot of energy!
Switch to Eco-Friendly Lights
Thinking outside of machine use, change out your lightbulbs to eco-friendly lights, especially when your laundromat is operating for long hours of the day.
LED lights consume less power and energy than regular incandescent lights, so they are the way you want to go. Installing these lights is a simple and inexpensive way for your laundromat to go green.
It would also be a good idea to figure out a way to dim your lights on really bright days, where lights may really not be necessary. Consider adding in more windows for natural light or using dimmer switches and motion sensors.
The more energy you can save and the less amount of power you can use, the better!
Reuse and Recycle
A simple and easy way to be more eco-friendly at your coin-op laundry business is to make it a focus to reuse and recycle.
Place recycling bins around your laundromat for customers and laundry attendants. This is just another way to encourage your customers to be mindful of their actions and the environment around them.
Set up donation bins around the laundromat to encourage patrons to donate old, unwanted clothes rather than throwing them in the landfill. Thrifting-focused events to encourage donating and reusing recycled clothing can also be a great way to connect with the community.
And when it comes to informing your customers of business news, deals, and discounts, send emails or utilize social media instead of handing out papers with discount information. This practice saves a lot of paper and makes it easier for you, as a laundromat business owner, to inform and remind customers of the promotions happening at the moment.
Lead by Example
The best way to encourage customers to practice the preceding eco-friendly laundromat tips is to lead by example — and that starts with your team.
Train your laundry attendants to follow eco-friendly practices. To really make sure that they’re on top of their game, offer employee incentives for those who do lead by example. Offering incentives such as cost-savings and free cycles to your customers might also increase the eco-friendly practices followed at your laundromat!
Do Your Part To Help Our Planet Today
By following eco-friendly practices at your laundromat, you not only help our environment but also set a good reputation for your business. When customers get to test out your eco-friendly washers and dryers and see your employees prioritizing sustainability, they will feel good about using your business and keep coming back.
These tips will also help you stand out from your competitors, which is always the goal when it comes to owning a small business. If you’re interested in learning more about our energy-efficient machines, please reach out to us and we’ll be more than happy to get you started!
Tagged: Laundromats