Business Success Stories
Our collection of success stories are designed to give you ideas on how to implement your own climate success story. Use the filters on the left to narrow down your search by location, industry type, or action type. Many of our success stories are also Small Business Award winners, your business could be next!
Plaza Cleaners is a family owned and operated dry cleaning and laundry drop-off, pick-up and delivery service with over 35 years of professional alteration and dry cleaning experience. The business takes pride in being the first green cleaners in the city of Thousand Oaks and Ventura County.
Norton’s Green Cleaners is leading the way in alternative dry cleaning methods by reducing their chemical waste and installing energy efficient upgrades. Norton’s Green Cleaners opened in 1971 as a dry cleaning service using the ‘less than environmentally-friendly’ perchlorethylene (chlorinated) solvent for over twenty years. In 2005, Norton’s made the change to 100 percent professional wet cleaning, thereby eliminating all chemical waste, as well as expensive and inefficient equipment.
Concerned by the potential health hazards associated with the use of perchloroethylene (PERC), a traditional dry cleaning chemical, Hesperian Cleaners decided to go green. “I didn’t want to change it to another solvent or another type of chemical,” says owner Sung Han Lee. Therefore, five years ahead of the new mandated schedule to phase out PERC, Mr. Lee chose a new process called wet cleaning.
Sassan Rahimzadeh set out to create one of the most technologically advanced and environmentally sustainable dry cleaning services around. He succeeded when he opened the doors of Arya Cleaners. Understanding that people have many options when selecting their dry cleaning services, Arya Cleaners offers an environmentally friendly experience, along with state-of-the-art service.
Brentwood Royal Cleaners first opened its doors in 1948 and since 2003 has offered environmentally-friendly dry cleaning. Traditional dry cleaners use a chemical called Perchloroethylene, which is a known carcinogen and ground contaminant. Brentwood Royal Cleaners uses a CO2 cleaning process that does not harm the environment. Brentwood Royal Cleaners has approval from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air-Resource Board (CARB) as well as South Coast Air Quality District Management (SCAQMD) to use liquid CO2 to dry clean clothes.