Washing your car in the driveway uses as much as 150 gallons of fresh water, and washing it at a conventional car wash uses between 20 and 50 gallons according to estimates from Travis Kimball. Kimball is the director of marketing for Splash & Dash, a car wash that uses a mere eight gallons of fresh water per car serviced.

Splash & Dash is located in Sacramento, California. The entrepreneurs behind it, including CEO Jason Johnson, hit on a formula that combines inexpensive service with environmental practices to convince customers to clean up their cars the "green" way. Splash & Dash has been certified as sustainable by the Sacramento Business Environmental Resource Center -- the first car wash to get the designation.

One of the big factors separating Splash & Dash from its competitors is the car wash's impressive water reclamation process. The process reclaims 100 percent of the water it uses in washing cars. The soapy water is run through a filtering process — the equipment has a $30,000 price tag -- that makes the water clean enough to re-use. The only fresh water Splash & Dash doesn't reclaim is eight gallons for the final spot-free rinse.

Splash & Dash has gone green in other ways, as well: the company uses only biodegradable and nontoxic soaps. Competing car washes, as well as most of the folks out in their driveways with a hose, use toxic soaps that don't break down after they reach the sewer system. These chemicals can harm both wildlife and the employees expected to work with them. 

Not all of Splash & Dash's customers come for the biodegradable soap, however. The basic car wash costs an affordable $6 — cheaper than many nearby car washes. I'm certain that Splash & Dash is able to charge less for the same reasons they received a green certification: the company uses less water. Many car washes face astronomical water bills, high enough that a $30,000 device able to trim operating expenses is worth the up-front cost. 

I suspect that the environment isn't really Splash & Dash's primary concern. But the fact that these entrepreneurs have found a way in which to drop expenses using sustainable methods has made going green a smart business move. It's interesting to note that the company doesn't place a price premium on a green product, as other companies have. Instead, Splash & Dash focuses on providing a competitive product and using sustainability as a marketing bonus. I see this as the real future of green marketing. Where eco-friendly qualities are present, their main purpose is to help make an overall great product.

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Waterless Washing Machines Help to Meet New LEED?
Renovating for Efficiency Benefits Landlords
FTC to Set Green Marketing Standards

Photo by Flickr user Colin O'Brien