An entrepreneur with a green thumb will open Sudbury's first "green" laundromat later this month.
George Van Embden, who's worked as a groundskeeper at Laurentian University for 16 years, will hang up his shovel when he opens Green Star Laundry on Paris Street.
The tall, lean Embden bristles with energy when he shares his tagline: committed to global greening one wash at a time.
Embden was sitting in his local laundromat a few months ago when he realized how bored he was. He conducted an unscientific survey of other laundromat users and discovered they felt the same way.
He decided to open a value-added laundromat - one that would embody his green beliefs.
"I'd lay in bed at night," Van Embden said. "My head was racing with all these ideas."
The washers will use less water, the dryers less energy and customers will waste less time, he said.
Van Embden is using a tankless water system made by Rinnai. "When the washing machine turns on, the water comes through the pipe," he said. "(The system) instantly heats it."
The washing machines hold 16 pounds of clothes, twice as much as average machines, he said. The Maytag front load washers don't have agitators. Instead, they have baffles that lift and shower the laundry, saving 15 gallons of water per load. As well, they spin at a very high rate, meaning the dryers have less work to do. The laundromat will have gas dryers, which use 23 percent less electricity.
While they're waiting, customers can read magazines, watch a 40-inch high definition TV - which uses 40 percent less electricity than a plasma model - or surf the web for a minimal fee.
"It's where couples will want to be," said Van Embden, who plans to have theme nights featuring Hockey Night in Canada and Planet Earth.
And the kids? They can colour or watch the fish swim in the aquarium.
A green board will give people tips on how they can conserve energy.
Van Embden said he was inspired by an article in Northern Life about consumers making choices about where they shop according to a business's commitment to the environment.
"That article may have played a part," he said of his decision to open a green business. "I love our planet."
