Ecolo Green Car Wash Blog

2010-01-25T17:30:00.001-08:00

LA Times today : Is California's drought ending? It's too soon to say http://bit.ly/82aF5G

2009-12-15T08:32:00.001-08:00

Great article today about Ecolo Green Car Wash on the Green Office Blog http://bit.ly/4HOvwC

2009-12-14T06:24:00.001-08:00

New opening : Oakley Headquarter in Lake Forest, CA has chosen Ecolo Green Car Wash, every Monday and Wednesday, starting today http://bit.ly/4DHgDl

2009-12-09T15:55:00.001-08:00

Ecolo Green Car Wash on Little Green Blog today http://bit.ly/8tXeh0

2009-12-08T17:18:00.001-08:00

Guest blog feature of Water Use It Wisely.com http://bit.ly/5BnhZS

2009-12-08T17:10:00.001-08:00

Ecolo Green Car Wash on The Go Green Blog : Product of the week http://bit.ly/6dm5f3

2009-12-05T11:12:00.001-08:00

Mop More Efficiently; Separate the Waters. I can't believe nobody thought about that before! http://bit.ly/73XQ73

2009-12-02T16:28:00.001-08:00

Ecolo Green Car Wash today on Water Use it wisely blog : http://bit.ly/4IDUus

2009-11-30T12:20:00.001-08:00

Ecolo Green Car Wash on carwash.com: New waterless carwash service hits the market http://bit.ly/4tpDlP

2009-11-25T17:32:00.001-08:00

Ecolo Green Car Wash products tested by Sweeps4Bloggers http://bit.ly/87DEOM

2009-11-23T18:52:00.001-08:00

Conservation is seen as key to dealing with state's water woes in the LA Times today http://bit.ly/8oinaO

2009-11-23T16:56:00.001-08:00

Ecolo Green Car Wash products for sale now on Green4YourSoul.com http://bit.ly/6ilpFD

2009-11-20T20:07:00.001-08:00

Thank you to Green Car Reports for its article about our waterless Ecolo Green Car Wash @Greencarreports http://bit.ly/5Sln5u

2009-11-16T09:20:00.001-08:00

News release : Pierrick Bouquet launches Ecolo Green Car Wash http://bit.ly/27gZDn

2009-11-13T16:42:00.001-08:00

A new article for Ecolo Green Car Wash http://bit.ly/4ov45

2009-11-12T12:54:00.001-08:00

Ecolo Green Car Wash Products on EcoXperience.com http://ping.fm/ZdmIV

2009-11-11T23:41:00.001-08:00

Ecolo Green Car Wash on CBS2 http://bit.ly/lW9CU

2009-11-11T17:28:00.001-08:00

Ecolo Green Car Wash on CBS News today: Car Wash Washes Without Water... Weally! http://bit.ly/1ED8xp

2009-11-10T22:51:00.001-08:00

Ecolo Green Car Wash on CBS tonight, channel KCal9 (at the end of the news): http://bit.ly/3IRH6l

2009-11-10T18:27:00.001-08:00

Ecolo Green Car Wash is now listed on Greenmaven.com http://bit.ly/3LJnrH

2009-11-09T12:42:00.001-08:00

Article about Ecolo Green Car Wash in the OC Register today : http://bit.ly/2KZWNm

2009-11-09T12:38:00.001-08:00

Ecolo Green Car Wash today at the headquarter of Oakley in Lake Forest, CA to clean the company's cars

2009-11-05T10:45:00.001-08:00

Ecolo Green Car Wash has created a line of green products to clean cars, motorcycles and boats without water! http://bit.ly/CVZZF

2009-10-21T11:14:00.001-07:00

Great book from Gary Vaynerchuk: CRUSH IT! Learn how to transform your passion in $$$
http://ping.fm/1hww0

Fiji Water: So cool, so fresh, so bad for the environment? -- DailyFinance

2009-08-26T10:25:00.001-07:00

Fiji Water: So cool, so fresh, so bad for the environment? -- DailyFinance

Shared via AddThis

Official launch

2009-08-19T10:11:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to announce the official launch of ECOLO GREEN CAR WASH. Please visit our website http://www.ecologreencarwash.com and join our mailing list to receive our latest news and promotions.

Ecolo Green Car Wash at the BET event

2009-08-19T10:08:00.000-07:00

Ecolo Green Car Wash will sponsor The BET event (http://www.thebet.net/) for an evening of live entertainment, collector car displays and automotive art.
We will offer onsite waterless car wash and will donate a portion of the sale to the Orangewood Children's Foundation.
When: Friday, September 4th, from 5 to 9PM
Where: San Juan Capistrano

Please step away from the hose! LA Time - August 16,2009

2009-08-17T10:11:00.000-07:00

On the prowl for water-use scofflaws

L.A.'s Department of Water and Power dispatches a dozen officers to roam the city, citing residents who violate the recently tightened water laws. Nearly 700 citations have been issued since June.

By Esmeralda Bermudez

August 16, 2009

It was just after 9 a.m. when William Mims got busted in a Hancock Park driveway.

Slowly, he set down the gushing hose, which lacked an automatic shut-off nozzle, stepped away from the gray BMW he was washing and put his hands up.

"Hey, man, I confess. I confess. I was using just the hose," he told Kevin Cato, a Department of Water and Power water conservation officer. "I won't do it again."

Since June 1, Cato and about a dozen other workers -- water cops, as some residents call them -- have been on the prowl in search of lawn-loving Angelenos who don't know or don't heed the city's tightened water restrictions.

Nearly 700 citations have been issued to homeowners, apartment building managers, fast-food franchise owners, church clerks and Caltrans sites. Under more lax restrictions in place before June, the DWP even cited one of its own facilities.

"Everyone's fair game," Cato said.

Excuses abound as Cato appears in his fuel-efficient Prius, catching people with sprinklers raging and hoses flowing. They blame broken timers, clueless gardeners or -- as did Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who was publicly chided in 2007 for excessive water use -- newly installed irrigation systems and water-loving gophers.

Try as they might, offenders can't hide the evidence. The precious commodity is already flowing down gutters and driveways, glistening off blades of grass and rosebushes when Cato rolls up.

"Some people look at me and say, 'Go ahead and write me up. I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do,' " Cato said.

Most of the time, wrongdoers such as Mims rush to comply, and Cato, a 21-year DWP veteran, counsels and educates rather than reaching for his citation booklet. He leaves behind blue-and-white fliers that highlight a list of no-nos, such as using sprinklers any day except Monday and Thursday and washing down sidewalks and driveways.

Since the restrictions took effect, fewer than 30 water users have actually been hit with fines, which begin at $100 for a first offense. Most of the citations issued so far have been only warnings.

With water conservation officers patrolling only during regular business hours, some self-appointed water vigilantes have stepped in. They watch for mysterious puddles, broken sprinkler heads and after-hours hand-watering across neighborhoods and business strips. Then they send complaints -- more than 4,200 so far -- via phone, e-mail and most recently on Twitter.

"We've had a very high level of response and recognition that we're all in this together," said H. David Nahai, DWP general manager. "There have always been exceptions, either due to ignorance or other reasons, but we do try to reach them."

Higher water bills and confusion over new watering rules have driven some residents to surrender and let weeds and dirt take over lots, particularly in the San Fernando Valley where many lots are larger and temperatures hotter than in other parts of the city.

Concerned about property values in the area, Councilman Greig Smith recently introduced several motions to expand the sprinkler allowance to three days.

He also wants exemptions for fire-prone areas such as Porter Ranch.

"We've been talking for decades about greening L.A., so it doesn't make sense to put forth a policy that's going to make everyone's lawns go brown," said Matt Myerhoff, Smith's spokesman.

The water restrictions are prompting some property owners and garden clubs to ditch water-guzzling lawns for drought-resistant plant beds, mulch, cobblestone and rocks. Artificial-grass vendors, backed by a city rebate program, have also seen an uptick in business since water mandates took effect.

"You've got people in certain parts of the Valley sitting on half-acre lots and now they've been told, 'You can only water twice a week,' " said Duane Ruth, owner of a local distributor of Synlawn, an artificial grass. "You might as well tell them you're taking their house away."

The restrictions, which are tougher than in nearby cities such as Beverly Hills, Pasadena and Long Beach, are apparently paying off. Recent figures released by the DWP show water demand citywide reached a 32-year low for June, down 11% compared with the same period in 2008.

Los Angeles as a whole has done well in saving water in the last 25 years. The population has grown by roughly a million people, but total water use has remained the same.

Still, with the city about to enter its fourth consecutive drought year, officials plan to keep pushing the need to conserve.

In Van Nuys, Jerry Pollack hopes his newly planted Japanese maple survives it all.

Pollack, 80, said he is well aware of the ban on watering between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., but now and then he sneaks out to his front yard to quench the thirst of his trees and rosebushes.

One day recently, he got caught, hose in hand, and was written up by a water conservation officer. An attempt to explain his way out of it proved futile.

"Theoretically, I wasn't breaking the law," Pollack said. "I just didn't want my tree to die. I wasn't watering all over the place."

On his way back to DWP headquarters, Cato spotted his last violator before lunch break: St. Nicholas Cathedral along West 3rd Street. A brook of foamy water flowed from the church's gated courtyard down the road for several blocks.

Cato parked his Prius and sat still for a moment, looking up at the building.

"Forgive me, Lord," he said before stepping out of the car, citation book in hand, and heading toward the stream of water.

esmeralda.bermudez

@latimes.com

Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times

Water Shortage in LA Times today

2009-07-06T15:37:00.000-07:00

Despair flows as fields go dry and unemployment rises
San Joaquin Valley farms are laying off workers and letting fields lie fallow as their water ration falls.
By Alana Semuels

July 6, 2009

Reporting from Mendota, Calif. — Water built the semi-arid San Joaquin Valley into an agricultural powerhouse. Drought and irrigation battles now threaten to turn huge swaths of it into a dust bowl.

Farmers have idled half a million acres of once-productive ground and are laying off legions of farmhands. That's sending joblessness soaring in a region already plagued by chronic poverty.

Water scarcity looms as a major challenge to California's $37-billion agricultural industry, which has long relied on imported water to bloom. The consequences of closing the spigot are already evident here in rural Fresno County, about 230 miles north of Los Angeles. Lost farm revenue will top $900 million in the San Joaquin Valley this year, said UC Davis economist Richard Howitt, who estimates that water woes will cost the recession-battered region an additional 30,000 jobs in 2009.

Standing in a parched field in 104-degree heat, valley farmer Joe Del Bosque pointed to cracked earth where tomatoes should be growing. He didn't bother this year because he can't get enough water to irrigate them. He's cultivating only about half of the cantaloupe and asparagus that he did in 2007. He has slashed his workforce, and his bills are mounting.

"We can't survive at 10% of our water," said Del Bosque, 60, a white cowboy hat, long sleeves and jeans protecting him from the blistering sun.

Desperation is rippling through agricultural communities such as Mendota, 35 miles west of Fresno, where an estimated 39% of the labor force is jobless. It's a stunning figure even for this battered community of about 10,000 people, which has long been accustomed to double-digit unemployment rates.

Sporadic food giveaways by churches and nonprofits draw hundreds of people. Enrollment in area schools has dropped by a quarter this year. Crime is up, so much, in fact, that the cash-strapped town voted in May to form its own police department rather than rely on the county sheriff.

On a recent afternoon, a dozen men in white T-shirts and jeans were leaning against a liquor store wall across from City Hall, hoping someone would hire them. Others, such as Candelario Torres, sat in the shade of Kiki's Pool Hall, playing cards and swatting flies. They, too, waited for the slim chance a farmer would employ them to weed tomato fields or pick cantaloupe.

"There's no water, so there's no work," said Torres, a 56-year-old father of three who doesn't have a car and can't go far to look for jobs. "Everyone in here is looking."

It's much the same in rural towns such as Firebaugh and Huron, whose jobless farm laborers helped pushed the Fresno County unemployment rate to 15.4% in May, above the California rate of 11.5% and up from 9.4% a year earlier.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last month asked President Obama to declare Fresno County a disaster area to boost federal aid. But that's not what the farmers say they want. At a recent town hall meeting in Fresno, while some women in the audience knitted, men in baseball caps and T-shirts shouted down officials from the Interior Department: "We don't want welfare, we want water."

But climate change is intensifying competition for this resource and may well force changes in the way the valley has been farmed for decades.

This area, once known as part of the great California desert, has always depended on water from somewhere else. In the early part of the century, homesteaders dug wells or hauled water from up north, but in 1952 they banded together to form the Westlands Water District. It later contracted to buy water from the federal government, which built a system of canals and reservoirs that captures water in the northern part of the state and sends it to farmers in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Because of its subordinate water rights, the 600,000-acre Westlands Water District is often last on the long list of groups receiving water from this federal project. In the last two years, below-average rainfall and a shrinking snowpack have made the supply even tighter than usual.

Statewide runoff -- the amount of rainfall and snow melt that ends up in rivers and streams -- was 53% of normal in 2007 and 58% of normal in 2008, said Lester Snow, director of the California Department of Water Resources. The federal government-run water supply allotted only half the water that farmers south of the delta had been expecting in 2007, and 40% in 2008.

This year has been even drier after a federal court ordered that pumps moving water through the system be turned down to protect endangered species including delta smelt, salmon and green sturgeon. The pumps can reverse the water flow and trap salmon in the river, pulverize fish or ensnare them on screens, said Maria Rea, supervisor of the Sacramento office of the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Farmers in the Westlands Water District have protested at Fresno City Hall, joined a March for Water that stretched from Mendota to the San Luis Reservoir, and posted signs along Interstate 5 declaring the area a "Congress Created Dust Bowl."

"We taught the entire world how to grow crops," said Tom Stefanopoulos, owner of Stamoules Produce, bitterly. "But this is the first time we've had to compete with fish."

Stefanopoulos, who owns one of the largest farms in the Westlands district, has planted fewer seasonal row crops this year, but hasn't lost any of his precious pistachio trees. But a neighboring farm, lacking water, left its plum orchard to die. Weeds and dead branches now litter the ground next to Stamoules' field of sweet corn.

Valley farmers aren't the only ones suffering. Increasingly, when it come to water, one industry's livelihood is another's loss.

The more water that's pumped from the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta, which stretches from Yolo County near Sacramento to the lower parts of San Joaquin County, the more that wildlife from the area is harmed, said C. Mark Rockwell, California representative of the Endangered Species Coalition. There hasn't been a commercial or recreational salmon fishing season in California or in certain parts of Oregon in the last two years, he said.

Pulling water from the delta also lets more seawater in from the San Francisco Bay, sullying farms near Sacramento, said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, campaign director of advocacy group Restore the Delta.

"There really isn't enough water to go around, particularly in a drought year," Rockwell said.

Fights will probably escalate in the face of global warming, said Juliet Christian-Smith, a senior research associate at the Pacific Institute.

"We have a new climate reality, and our old structure for allocating water will not work for the future," she said. "Fish are just one sign of an ecosystem that's collapsing."

Officials have discussed a variety of long- and short-term fixes, including transferring water from other areas, installing gates to protect the smelt and increasing the statewide storage of water.

But Del Bosque and other farmers said they couldn't survive even one more year of stingy water allocation. Some are considering quitting the business. Field hands too are looking to other industries. But there aren't many options now that the region's construction boom has gone bust.

Valley farmworker Cecilia Reyes said some of her neighbors drive from Fresno County to places as far as Bakersfield, Hollister and Gilroy to look for work, returning at night to be with their families.

Reyes, a slight woman clad in a baseball cap emblazoned with the word "Angel," a handkerchief and long sleeves, said she felt lucky that she recently had found three days' work weeding tomato fields. "I hope there's more work this year," she said in Spanish. "If there's not, I don't know what I'll do."