National Clothesline

Oftentimes, our initial reaction to a potential new law or regulation is adversarial in nature. In many cases, this is appropriate because some government policies attempt to go too far past the line of reasonableness. When such indiscretions occur, it is the job of the people to unite and curtail the government from its misguided course. A recent example of this is the attempt at a perc ban in Southern California. Drycleaners worked together to voice their opposition to an outright ban and helped stave off overzealous regulators by offering facts on how well the industry is reducing its perc usage. True, new regulations will still come to the greater Los Angeles basin, but to what extent remains unclear. Chances are, the rules will be less stringent in their scope. In other words, the “line” probably won’t be crossed since cleaners made regulators aware of where the line needs to be drawn.

Once the line is in place, it will certainly be necessary for everybody to follow the law and meet all of its requirements. However, drycleaners should not feel obliged to be content with simply being law-abiding. After all, if a student earns a “D” in a class, that’s considered a passing grade, yet there is a much higher standard that he or she should be encouraged to attain.

In the case of drycleaning, there are many businesses out there who aren’t simply making the grade, but, instead, they are setting the curve. These “A” grade cleaners are making headlines in their communities by going to greater and greater lengths to be as environmentally friendly as possible (see page 8 for two good examples). They’re making the entire industry look just a little bit better.

Of course, the positive publicity is nice, but there are a host of other reasons for cleaners to make the extra effort. Not only does it feel good to consider the welfare of future generations, but it’s also quite profitable to recycle old materials and cut down on unnecessary waste. It doesn’t really matter what solvent you use, either. An environmentally friendly cleaner is one who will strive to use his or her solvent of choice as efficiently and responsibly as possible. It just makes good business sense.

Perhaps it’s more difficult to be inspired to do something if you are forced to do it. People resent being told how they should run their business, and, unfortunately, it seems like drycleaners have more than their fair share of rules and regulations. Just keep one thing in mind: If you always stay as close to the line as possible, you will have to rethink your business operations every time that line is moved by regulators. Don’t wait for that to happen. If you aim for a higher standard, then it will be the line that chases you, instead of the other way around.

While it has been distressing to see proposals arise to ban perc, there has been a bright silver lining to the dark cloud. No, we’re not referring to the fact that these proposals have been slowed down, if not halted, although that is good to see. The silver lining is the strength demonstrated by cleaners and their trade associations when they work together for a common cause.

Too often it seems individual cleaners are working in an isolation chamber, either too busy or too fearful of competitors to get together as colleagues with common interests. And too often the trade associations, which attempt to represent the industry’s interests, have difficulty maintaining enough members to give them credibility when they go forth to “speak for the industry.” What the rest of the world — government, media and the general public — hears instead is a cacophony of small voices who can’t seem to agree among themselves.

But that wasn’t the case in California where hundreds of cleaners, organized by several trade associations, raised a symphony of protest that effectively stalled a steam-rolling government agency that wants to ban perc. Nor was it true in Chicago where a concerted effort by local and national trade groups convinced an alderman that an immediate ban of perc in the city was impractical and unnecessary.

Where will we go from here? Back to isolation and disorganization? Or forward into a future in which drycleaners unite and harness the energy of the industry not just to stop bad things from happening but also to make good things occur? The choice is obvious.