Car wash owner Dan Smith says he’s been trying to get his business to change its ways for a long time.
He says he can no longer afford to keep paying his employees.
But the owner of the beautiful car washing business in the neighbourhood of the city of St. John’s says he has found a way to get the business to make the change.
CBC News sat down with Smith to find out how he came up with the idea.
“We’re trying to change our business,” said Smith.
“I’m trying to bring my customers into our business and the way we’re doing that is we’re trying things that are sustainable.
Smith’s business, The Car Wash, is located on Highway 401 near the town of St John’s. “
And so I’ve started working with an environmental group to come up with a sustainable way to wash my cars and to make sure they’re cleaned up.”
Smith’s business, The Car Wash, is located on Highway 401 near the town of St John’s.
Its goal is to clean up as much of the municipal fleet as possible.
It has been open for two years and has a total of about 2,000 cars in the washroom.
Smith says his employees and customers have come out in droves to wash their cars and he’s had customers come in from all over the province.
Smith has been offering his services for two decades and says it has been a huge help in the area.
“It’s helped us get rid of so many pollutants,” said Joe Gourlay, a retired truck driver who owns a local trucking company.
“The car wash is the only business in our area that does this.
We have a lot of residents that have been going there for years.”
Smith said he has had to make changes to his business as a result of the environmental concerns.
“There’s a couple of things that have come to light, one of which is that the washing machine has been leaking oil,” said Gourlay.
“So we’ve had to do a little bit of a makeover to get it running properly.”
Smith says it’s a process that is very sustainable and not to mention he’s got a new car in the shed.
He said he started out with a washable plastic washable machine that he had lying around.
The car wash has now been using a new, eco-compatible machine and is using it to wash cars at least a dozen times a week.
Smith said the cars he has cleaned are not all clean and he has never had to go to the trouble of washing them.
He’s still not happy with the way his business is running.
“For us, it’s about the environment,” said Tom Kiefer, who owns The Car Washing and Car Washer in the same area.
He and Kiefers grandson, Jack, are two of Smith’s regulars.
“If we didn’t do it that way, we wouldn’t be doing it,” said Kieferk.
“People come in and they just say, ‘Oh my God, it smells like cars.'” “
A lot of people come to us and say they just came in, they didn’t wash their car,” said T.P. Tompkins, a local resident.
“People come in and they just say, ‘Oh my God, it smells like cars.'”
Smith says the business has been growing steadily.
He told CBC News he has noticed a big jump in customers.
“Most people come in, take a picture and send it to me and I’ll give them the receipt and we’ll go from there,” said Scott.
“They like the fact that we’re going after something that’s environmentally friendly.”
The carwash is not the only car wash in St. Johns area.
Smith is not alone in his quest for a sustainable business.
There are several car wash businesses in St John, but the one in the neighbouring town of Brantford is known as the Eco-Cars.
“Everywhere I go, there’s a car that’s just been washed,” said Jim McComb, the owner and president of Eco-Car.
“You just walk through the whole lot, you see the wash rooms, and then you see this huge, shiny metal wash basin that’s filled with water and it just fills the whole car.”
McComb says Eco-Cs are not sustainable.
“When we put it into a car, it comes out clean and the water doesn’t have any toxins in it,” he said.
“What we’re putting in there is a car.
It doesn’t do anything to it.”
Eco-Ales, which has been operating for about three years, said the Eco Cars program has been successful in getting the business cleaned up.
“Over the last three years we’ve done more than 2,500 car washings and we’ve also got about 2 million litres of water,” said Lisa Beasley, who runs Eco-Lives.
“These car wash cars are being washed daily.
And we’ve actually managed to do about half of those