Talking about green business practices is one thing. 

Putting them into action is another. 

At Tommy’s Express, we’re dedicated to being a force for good in the communities we serve. 

For us, that means being a sustainable car wash that cares about the environment and the impact we have on the earth.  

For example, we wanted to be purposeful in the way we engineered our building and systems. Now, our innovative water reclamation processes, reverse osmosis technology, and specialized dilution rates reduce water usage and product waste.  

We’re committed to leaving a smaller impact on the earth. Read more about why it’s better to wash at Tommy’s Express versus driveway washing. 

Reducing our environmental footprint takes serious effort.  

It’s a process.   

But every little bit helps. 

Another way we’re doing our part is by switching to biodegradable plastic bags to protect rear wiper blades in the car wash.  

Plastic bags at car wash locations

Our manufacturer, Tommy Car Wash Systems, sold just under 3 million plastic bags last year.  

While we hope that our guests recycle the plastic bags after visiting our wash locations, it’s not always a guarantee.  

Other car washes might tape the rear wiper blade instead of using a plastic bag. That wasn’t a sustainable or safe option for us. 

Switching to biodegradable plastic bags helps everyone.  

Curious about the science behind how the biodegrading of our bags works? 

• A special additive makes the plastic film react to UV light and degrade.  
• After exposure to light, the film attracts microbes that further degrade the film into biomass.  

If a plastic bag falls off a car, its direct sunlight exposure forces a microbe-rich environment, and the bag should biodegrade quickly.  

More than a sustainable car wash

Serving our communities is more than just offering a car wash service.  
 
To us, it’s caring about the environment and the world we leave behind for future generations. 

This is just the start.  

There’s a spirit of innovation at the heart of Tommy’s Express.  

We’re always looking to make our products better, our processes more efficient, and our car washes the best they can be.  

Does that sound interesting to you? We’re hiring! Find a job at a local car wash, or come work for us at our corporate headquarters. 

Being an innovative modern car wash 

As part of our commitment to innovation, we’ve been working hard to design new cloths in the wash that are safe for rear wiper blades.  

Our newly redesigned cloths are safer for rear wiper blades, eliminating the need for bagging. A combination of microfleece and foam allows the cloth to clean well and be light enough to slide over vehicles easily.  

Not all locations have these new cloths yet, but we wanted you to be aware that they’re coming! As locations need replacements, they can now order the new cloths.  

Together, we can help the environment by using less plastic and making the wash safer for team members so they stop walking between cars.  

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In grade school, Earth Day was a yearly event during which we all focused on our world and the water, air, plants, and animals on it. But as you get older, it can be hard to feel like your day-to-day choices are really making a difference for the planet.

Sure, you reduce, reuse, recycle, and turn the AC down when you can, but is there anything more you can do?  

Avoid Driveway Washing

We’re all familiar with the weekend tradition of pulling the car into the driveway and lugging out the hose and bucket.    

It turns out that this kind of car washing does more harm than good for our environment. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and countless state and local government bodies and nonprofit groups, washing your car in the driveway should be avoided for two main reasons:   

1.       It’s water inefficient.   

Hoses go through a surprising amount of water each second they run, which puts unnecessary stress on local water systems in drought-prone areas. We’re talking 116 gallons on average, according to one EPA estimate.   

2.       It contributes to water pollution  

Consider that everything you wash off your car, including your cleaning detergents, wax, tire shine, road salt, tar, motor oil, and gasoline, runs down and eventually finds its way, unfiltered, into storm drains, streams, ponds, lakes, and rivers in your area and all the way downstream to the ocean.   

Wash at Tommy’s Express Instead

So, if driveway washing isn’t a good option and your car is covered in bug smears and dust, should you visit Tommy’s Express?  

The answer, I’m happy to say, is that the best, most environmentally-responsible option you can choose just happens to also be the fastest and most convenient: Tommy’s Express!  

Modern Tommy’s Express tunnels use an average of just 28.1 gallons of water to clean a single car. That’s only about as much water as it takes to wash two loads of laundry using a high-efficiency washing machine, or almost as much water as you can get out of a standard garden hose in a minute and a half.   

It’s also less than most other comparable tunnel washes (46.4 gallons), and the majority of automatic car washes, too, depending on the specific model and systems they use.   

Efficiency By Design

This is no accident. We’ve set out to be more than just a neighborhood car wash. For years, since our very inception, the Tommy’s Express team has worked hard and invested in customized equipment, building materials, and wash products, all aimed at setting a new standard and bringing new, sustainable, Earth-friendly best practices to our industry and communities across the country.   

In other words, we give you the best possible car wash solution at the best possible value, all while conserving energy and water and keeping harmful runoff out of your local waterways.   

The reason why we’re able to use so much less water per vehicle while still delivering outstanding wash quality at express speeds comes down to technology. Specifically: 

High-Pressure Water Blasters  

By increasing water pressure, we can provide excellent cleaning and rinsing force with less total water consumption.  

Water Reclamation Technology  

While washing cars, it’s essential to use clean, grit-free water. By filtering and reusing water for specific functions, our high-performance water reclamation systems can reduce our overall water consumption significantly without harming your vehicle your wash quality.   

Proprietary Wash Products  

From our Presoak to Body Soap, Body Wax®, Tommy Guard®, Drying Agent, and Tommy Tire Gloss® all our wash products and applications have been specially designed and tuned for the best possible performance, allowing us to give your car the care and attention it deserves while using less product and less water per vehicle.   

Sanitary Sewers  

Every time you visit Tommy’s Express, you can rest easy knowing that 100% of the water and wash products used on your car are safely contained and carried to treatment facilities via a specialized municipal sanitary sewer. This keeps harmful runoff from your local lakes and streams for a greener, more responsible car maintenance routine.   

Responsible Car Washing For All!

So, when we say that Earth Day is every day at Tommy’s Express, you should know that we mean it! Earth is our planet and our home, and it’s our job to take care of it. We hope you’ll do the same.  

If you’d like responsible, high-quality car washing at an unbeatable value, then join the TommyClub today. You’ll receive unlimited, on-demand car washes at a low monthly subscription, plus exclusive contactless admission to all Tommy’s Express locations via the members-only APP lane.   

Download the Tommy’s Express App to your mobile device to start today.  

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There are so many reasons to love summer. The sunshine, warm weather, family vacations, trips to the water, and the delicious smell of grilling or cooking over an open fire, just to name a few. But just because your weekends are jam-packed with fun doesn’t mean you’re too busy to take of our most precious resources, including local water supplies.

When you wash your car at Tommy’s Express, you can rest assured that you’ll be getting a great value wash, saving precious time, and also using water responsibly. This is because each Tommy’s Express is fully stocked with high-efficiency water-saving equipment and is designed to dispose of used water in a responsible manner.

These systems include:

High-pressure spray

By using booster pumps and specialized nozzles we are able to greatly increase our water pressure, providing high-intensity and close cleaning while greatly reducing overall water consumption. Just listen to the noise of our blasters the next time you’re rolling through!

Water reclamation

Our water reclamation system allows us to reuse some water for certain wash functions. The system features large underground tanks to gravity filter suspended sediment, ozone treatments, and powerful cyclonic separators for final purification.

All in all, we can produce more than 100 gallons of usable water each minute, allowing us to perform the same cleaning while drawing in much less fresh or city water overall.

Custom high-performance wash products

From Presoak to Tire Shine, our wash products have been formulated to work well and work quickly at very precise dilution ratios. This means that we can still clean your car from top to bottom while using less water and running our conveyors faster. And we monitor those results as well as our overall system chemistry on a daily basis.

Sanitary sewers

When you wash your car in a driveway or parking lot your suds have to go somewhere, and usually that somewhere is a local storm drain that finds its way straight to a nearby river, lake, or pond. This water pollution can trigger deadly algae blooms that deoxygenate the water or directly poison local aquatic fish and insect life.

On the other hand, all the water used at Tommy’s Express is safely routed through a local sanitary sewer to a water treatment plant, where it can be purified.

The environmental difference between these two is so great that state and national agencies across the nation strongly recommend using professional car wash facilities over handwashing, even in non-drought conditions.

So, the next time your car needs a wash make the responsible choice and visit your local Tommy’s Express. A great wash, at a great price, in just three minutes—we’ll see you there!

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Save water, visit your local Tommy’s Express today!

Last week we took a look at how driveway car washing can be a problem for local ponds, rivers, streams, and lakes. But there’s another reason to skip the buckets and sponges: water waste.

According to the EPA, the average driveway car wash in America uses over 116 gallons of water. But maybe that’s not so surprising. After all, a standard 5/8” garden hose will output 17 gallons of water or more each minute, which adds up fast, even if you’re being careful. And because the public water used for the final rinse is unfiltered, you’re going to have water spots left behind after it dries.

Now consider that our modern Tommy’s Express Car Wash designs use less than 35 total gallons of water per car—around the same amount as a full bathtub (30+ gallons) or one load of laundry in a top-loading washer (35+ gallons)—while providing a low pH presoak, soft cloth cleaning action, an underbody rinse, hot wax, UV guard, and tire shine. And all in under 3 minutes!

Why is our water use so much less than driveway washing? High-quality car wash engineering. Instead of an open garden hose, our system works with targeted, high-pressure nozzles and precise cleaning product dilutions to safely provide the most cleaning and rinsing power possible with the absolute minimum water usage. And to prevent water spotting, we use industrial water softeners and reverse osmosis units to ensure that the final result of your wash is better without repeat rinsing.

The Tommy’s Express car wash brand is growing, and as we grow we look forward to bringing efficient, green car washing to more and more communities around the nation. Visit your local Tommy’s Express and see the difference for yourself!

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Spring is nearly here, bringing warm weather and more chances to get outside and enjoy some fresh air and blue skies. But while you’re out and about, remember that there’s one reason why washing your car at home isn’t a good option for your spring cleaning schedule:

Driveway car washing is a substantial source of water pollution

According to groups like the Environmental Protection Agency, Clean Water Consortium, and a wide range of state-level agencies, driveway washing is a devastating homeowner practice that leads to lasting ecological damage in local water bodies.

When vehicle owners soap up their cars, they generally use one of several varieties of car wash detergents, all of which are generally rich in surfactants, sodium or disodium phosphate, and other detergents. When the car is ready, these compounds are rinsed off together and sent straight down the driveway and into the nearest storm sewer or drainage ditch—along with any brake dust, wax, or motor oil that might be mixed in.

These artificial phosphates are a powerful nutrient and growth stimulator for algae, resulting in huge algae blooms in ponds and lakes that block out sunlight for the aquatic plants below and rapidly deplete oxygen from the water – oxygen that local fish and marine wildlife need to survive.

Once driveway car wash detergents get into storm sewers or drainage routes they flush straight down into the nearest stream, river, or lake. Huge die-offs are a result, and the algae that’s left behind is ugly, slimy to the touch, and stinks when it washes up and dries out on beaches and river bends.

The problem of driveway washing and water pollution has gotten so bad that many municipalities have run public service announcements and information campaigns to turn residents off from washing their cars at home, encouraging the use of professional car wash facilities like Tommy’s Express, where all detergents and wash runoff are safely captured and transported via sanitary sewer to a local water treatment plant.

At Tommy’s Express, 0% of our detergents and cleaning products end up in local waterways, which makes us the greenest, fastest solution for your automotive spring cleaning. Visit one of our express car wash locations today and come see for yourself!

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