Did you know when you wash your car in your driveway that all that wash water goes into the storm drain? Do you know where that storm drain takes all that soapy water? Did you know that the soapy water is filled with heavy metals; iron oxides and even asbestos from brake dust in many cases? If you were a fish in the ocean or a critter drinking that water down stream, do you think you would appreciate drinking water worse than in some third world countries? Not such a pretty thing is it? You can stop this you know? How so you ask? Well this question came in today;

Q: I wash my own car. How can I be environmentally responsible?

A: The best place to wash your car is to pull it up on the lawn or gravel. Use biodegradable soaps to wash you vehicle, using as little water as possible. Shut off water while washing your car, then rinse. Remember not to leave your car on the lawn. We would highly recommend going to a full or self-service car wash because the used water is recycled.

For a complete how-to on car washing, refer to the Car Wash Fundraiser Guide;

http://www.lacity.org/san/swmd/downloads/PDFs/carwash.pdf

This advice and information may help you from polluting the environment and you will be doing your part to help keep our waterways clean. Consider this in 2006.