National Clothesline
Minnesota cleaner earns environmental award
The National Pollution Prevention Roundtable (NPPR) recently acknowledged the
efforts of East Metro Clean n’ Press of West Saint Paul, MN, for its ongoing quest to become a greener
drycleaner.
The company’s latest innovations significantly reduced its carbon footprint and overall
waste while saving $18,814 a year in energy costs.
Clean n’ Press, which currently boasts 31 locations throughout central and metro
Minnesota, also decreased its energy use by 30 percent.
To reward the drycleaning business for its accomplishments, NPPR awarded it with
a Most Valuable Pollution Prevention (MVP2) award.
“We are thrilled to be included in the prestigious group of national MPV2 award
recipients,” said Dan Klasen, owner of East Metro Clean n’ Press. “This motivates us to discover the next breakthrough in environmentally friendly
drycleaning technology.”
Klasen, who is also a mechanical engineer, has been implementing the latest in
pollution prevention practices for numerous years including installing a
water-based process over 15 years ago that was designed to reduce the
consumption of perchloroethylene during the cleaning process.
More recently, he collaborated with the University of Minnesota’s Technical Assistance Program, Riddler Plumbing and Focus Electric to modify
and upgrade his equipment in order to make it more energy efficient as well as
generate less waste.
The company also began new recycling programs and implemented heat exchange
processes, which helped contribute to its over $18,000 in annual energy cost
savings.
According to Klasen, his customers are well aware of his company’s efforts to be more environmentally friendly and they greatly appreciate them.
“Many of our customers go out of their way to use our services because they care
about the environment, and they know we provide excellent cleaning with ‘green’ methods,” he said.
In turn, Klasen went out of his way to thank those all of those who continue
dropping off their dirty garments at his chain of cleaners.
To celebrate the MVP2 award, East Metro Clean n’ Press decided to offer customers a discount special to clean three sweaters for
$9.99.
Other MVP2 award recipients represent a broad range of backgrounds, including
federal government agencies, academia, industries, non-profits and individuals.
According to the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable, its 2009 MVP2 winners
have collectively reduced pollution by nearly 8,829 tons per year, conserved
more than 28 million kilowatts of energy and decreased water consumption by 108
million gallons a year.
Those efforts have also translated to more than $11 million in cost-cutting
savings for the award recipients.
The official web site for the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable is
located online at www.p2.org.
For a full list of the 2009 MVP2 award winners, visit the site and type “MVP2 awards in the search engine located on the upper right corner of the home
page.
