Getting taken to the cleaners

Dry-cleaning is one of my pet peeves.  It's expensive, produces a pile of wire hangers (which can be returned) and plastic bags (which can't be returned), and the chemicals are nasty.  Now that I've been doing life cycle assessments and ROI studies at work, I detest dry-clean-only clothes even more:  considering that a $100 suit will cost you $10 per cleaning for the rest of its life, is that really such a good deal?

Diatribe over.  Awhile back I blogged about green dry-cleaners; since then I've discovered organic cleaning at Belvedere Dry Cleaners at 6306 York Road near Rodgers Forge.  They're fast, reliable, and they also do alterations.

But what got me thinking about dry-cleaning today was this NYTimes article about the Green Garmento:  a reusable dry-cleaning bag.  It will take a sea change in dry-cleaning protocol for this to succeed, but I really hope this type of thing becomes the norm.  Check it out, and ask your dry-cleaner to do the same!