Every day is Earth Day at Fairmount Cleaners

Steve and Adam Grace at Fairmount Cleaners.

Earth Day is April 22. For the owners of Fairmount Cleaners, every day is Earth Day.

Steve Grace runs Fairmount Cleaners with his son Adam. They know that dry cleaning has a reputation for being damaging to the environment. That’s why they take steps to make their business as environmentally friendly as possible.

“Customers in the Heights have always been eco-sensitive,” Steve said. “We’re on the same page as our customers, and we are always making environmental improvements.”

Fairmount Cleaners’ solvent of choice, SOLVONK4, is now bio-based, and has been awarded the USDA BioPreferred product label. SOLVONK4 is the first and only bio-based solvent in the dry-cleaning industry.

As defined by the USDA, bio-based products are derived from plants and other renewable agricultural, marine and forestry materials, and provide an alternative to conventional petroleum-derived products. Made primarily from corn, SOLVONK4 is also completely biodegradable.

“Bio-derived and sustainable are words never before applied to the dry-cleaning industry,” Steve said. “There is peace of mind in using SOLVONK4. We know we are safe using it, our customers are better off, and the environmental liability is eliminated as well.”

Solvent use is not the only way Fairmount Cleaners tries to help the environment. “We use plastic bags made with 50-percent recycled material, and we offer reusable fabric garment bags to further reduce our need for plastic,” Steve explained. “We use many recycled paper products as well. In addition, we manually recycle many hangers we receive back from our customers.”

Heights Observer readers named Fairmount Cleaners, at 2163 South Taylor Road, “Best University Heights Business” in the 2019 Best of the Heights Awards.

Mike Cook

Mike Cook is the communications and civic engagement coordinator for University Heights.

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Volume 12, Issue 5, Posted 12:33 PM, 04.15.2019