Selling Americans on green practices

I wonder how many people still hear the call for personal action to save the planet. Today, contentment is growing in our country about the quality of the environment. According to a new Gallup Poll, 46 percent of Americans now rate our ecosystems as excellent or good. That's up from 39 percent last year.

Market research by the Shelton Group indicates that only 14 percent of consumers feel personally responsible for preventing pollution. Only this small minority say they wish to change daily habits and purchase practices accordingly. That's down 18 percent.

Granted, Gallup found that 53 percent still rate the environment as fair or poor. But appealing to everyone on moral grounds is not working. Americans need to be sold on green behaviors that generate an immediate, personal payoff.

This is nothing new to businesses. The less water and energy they use, the greater their profits. They can testify that conservation improves the environment and the economy. Some professional green work practices are positive examples for consumers to apply to their personal lives.

My industry offers such examples. We wash millions of pounds of work uniforms each year and steadily experiment with new labor-, energy- and water-efficient practices. With a little more diligence at home, consumers also can reduce effort and utility bills and improve the environment - while getting their laundry done.

For example, we have learned to wash huge loads, using larger machines and filling them to capacity. At home, a family of four can save more than 3,400 gallons of water each year by doing full loads, the federal EPA says. Also, we save energy by running our dryers as little as possible. Consumers can do the same and air-dry more often.

Equipment maintenance is full-time work in commercial laundries. Simple steps at home can produce the same payback of better results and energy savings. Just cleaning a dryer vent with each use or wiping down the inside of a washer a few times a year will make a difference.

We closely follow the directions that detergent manufacturers give us. Consumers should have similar trust in the instructions on their containers of detergent and stain-removal products. This helps clothes look good longer. Such prolonged garment life decreases the number of clothes that must be manufactured (good for the environment) and time needed to shop for replacements.

Americans have had enough of the notion that they must buy more expensive products to improve the environment. About 70 percent of Shelton survey respondents now say they buy energy-efficient products primarily to save money. In 2006 and 2007, "to protect the environment" was the most popular answer.

Soon, "to save time" might be the most common reply. The federal Labor Department says Americans with full-time jobs can only devote about an hour of every weekday to household activities. Green practices and products that enable them to squeeze more productivity from limited time probably have the brightest future.

• Jim Buik is president of The Roscoe Co. in Chicago. He lives in Wheaton.