Every time you need clothing cleaned, your informed choice comes down to
trust, expertise, and experience. For over 40 years, Nor’east has
been investing in equipment, training, and supervision in order to earn
your trust, gain the necessary experience and expertise, and build our
award-winning reputation on Cape Ann and the North Shore.
Behind that desire to provide you, our customer, with the finest, most
reliable and convenient service is recognition that we are dependent on
our environment for the materials needed to sustain such service to you.
We recognize that we live in a world of shared resources and that our
commitment is to keeping our environment clean as well.
Fortunately, for our children's and grandchildren's sakes, businesses
today are being held to a higher standard for the direct and indirect
environmental consequences of all phases of their activity. Whether it’s
the safe handling of industrial supplies, recycling of cardboard boxes,
reduction in paper use, or modifying customer behavior with reusable shopping
bags, every day businesses ask, “Can we do better?” Our answer
is "Yes!"
For many years, the dry-cleaning industry has been concerned about its
environmental impact. About 20 years ago, a major equipment breakthrough
reduced the use of dry-cleaning solvents by 90% nationwide. In 1993, Nor’east
converted to this technology, which eliminated any vapor release into
the atmosphere while at the same time leaving no detectable levels of
solvent in the clothes, thus eliminating any health risk.
In an ideal world, we would be able to remove stains and soil magically,
without the use of solvents. With this goal in mind, Nor’east purchased
the first Miele Wet Cleaning System in New England in the year 2000. Forty
percent of our work is now being processed in WATER using the Miele’s
custom-designed cleaning agents, unique Miele washing cycle, and Miele’s
moisture-controlled drying equipment, which has been used in Europe for
years. All of our dry-cleaning and wet-cleaning equipment is computer-controlled
for maximum efficiency and has helped reduce both dry-cleaning fluid and
water consumption.
In 2009, Nor'east Cleaners was recognized for its eco-friendly practices
and technologies. Currently, we are the only cleaners in the five northern
New England states to have been approved under the strict guidelines of the
Green Cleaners Council.
In 2011, we installed the SystemK4 dry-cleaning system. SystemK4 uses a
100% non-toxic, non-hazardous, dry-cleaning solution that performs better
than PERC and is completely safe for our employees, our customers, and
the environment. We are proud to be one of the first dry cleaners in the
country to convert to this technology. At Nor'east Cleaners, we are
continually reevaluating options for making our facilities even more ecologically friendly.
As with most complex problems, our environmental consciousness extends
beyond responsible cleaning techniques. We see this commitment as a partnership
with our customers. . . .
Plastic Bags
ALL of our plastic bags are now
BIODEGRADABLE. If a customer chooses not to recycle them with us and disposes of them
in a landfill, the bags will begin to decompose in just nine months. All
Nor’east’s recycled plastic bags are sent to a reclamation
center and reprocessed into new, biodegradable plastic bags.
We encourage the use of our Nor’east Convert-a-Bags, which serve
as a laundry bag for incoming items and a garment bag for outgoing clothes,
thus eliminating plastic bags altogether.
Hangers
About 25% of our hangers are recycled hangers from our customers. This
includes shirt, paper-covered, and plastic-clip hangers. Many are returned
in the convenient hanger caddies provided in the lobbies of our three
stores. If we cannot reuse the hangers that are returned to us, we send
them to be recycled.
Emailing
We offer monthly statements and newsletters to our customers via email
to save paper, time, and energy. Customers may keep their credit card
on file with us to eliminate monthly check writing as well as earn reward
points with their credit card provider.
On-site Recycling
We recycle over 1,500 cardboard boxes every year and all trash is separated
for maximum recycling.
Barcoding
Most items are barcoded, thus eliminating the need for paper tags. Barcoding
also provides increased security for the customer, allowing us to hold
a permanent record of every garment that we process.
As you can see, we take our commitment to you and to our planet seriously.
Please let us know if you have questions or suggestions or would like
more information. Simply email us at
info@noreastcleaners.com.