An overflowing laundry basket is a familiar scene in many homes as we juggle the stresses and strains of everyday life. Let’s face it, household chores are often the last thing we want to do and the first thing that we neglect. Thankfully, help is at hand in the form of laundry collection services, which can pick up, clean and deliver freshly washed and ironed clothes in as little as 24 hours. 

Naturally, the UAE’s laundry service sector is buoyant, with demand coming from busy residents and hotels alike. All this washing, however, results in high levels of water and energy usage.

That is why the process of washing our clothes can stand to become a little, well…cleaner. 

Cleaning clothes can be dirty work.

The tedious nature of laundering our clothes means that many people are often just grateful to be getting the job done for them and give little, if any, thought to the environmental impact of the process. 

Take, for example, a standard washing machine found in most homes; an average cycle uses around 19 gallons of water per load. In the UAE alone, one-quarter of residents say that they wash clothes at least once per day; if we were to consider the annual usage of just one of these households, it would equate to almost 7,000 gallons. 

When factoring in the laundry services industry, which uses larger machines, it’s not hard to imagine that billions of gallons of water will be used to pursue clean clothing globally each year. This is especially problematic, considering the need to conserve water for future generations. 

Another challenging aspect of laundry cleaning is the need to dry our clothing. This often relies on the use of tumble dryers, which are among the most energy-intensive appliances in an average household, with dryers producing roughly 1.8kg of CO2 per cycle. In addition to energy-related carbon emissions, certain fabrics and clothing, when washed, release microplastics and harmful chemicals, which end up in our oceans, accounting for 35% of plastic found in the sea. 

Ensuring that our clothing is kept clean can come at a price. So, how do we maintain cleanliness while protecting our planet?

Making small but meaningful changes.

Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to the problems we face as an industry. Rather, the key lies in a series of smaller steps which each have a positive impact and collectively make a meaningful difference. For example, if businesses were to put sustainability standards at the heart of everything they do, these small but well-considered changes would naturally become part of the process. 

With this, several of our partner facilities at Laundryheap use low-temperature high-speed extraction machines to preserve water and reduce drying time. In addition, they take a circular approach to water use; central boilers are used to heat their machines efficiently, rather than electrically heating them one by one. The steam produced through this method is also reused for dryers, dry cleaning and ironing. This makes the whole process more energy and water efficient. 

To help reduce the emission of microplastics into our oceans, filtration systems and capturing bags for synthetic materials are available and used within the industry. This improves the capabilities of at-home models, which do not use such measures. 

A key aspect of 24-hour laundry services is the pick-up and delivery slots. This is an area which must be considered when reducing environmental impact. Recently, we became the first provider in the region to introduce electric bikes for our delivery service. The initiative has seen each bike save 300 litres of fuel every month, and by the end of this year, the company will have saved more than 41 tonnes in CO2 emissions. Further simple fixes, such as introducing reusable cotton delivery bags within the MENA region, have helped reduce the amount of plastic waste our business produces. 

Cleaning up the sector

Ultimately, the responsibility for change lies within the industry. By putting sustainability standards at the heart of everything they do, leaders can identify areas of inefficiency, waste and high environmental impact to take small but meaningful steps to develop more ecologically sound practices. What’s more, demand for sustainable laundry services looks set to increase as the population becomes more climate conscious. A recent study revealed that 83% of people in the UAE are aware of their environmental footprint and the impact their purchasing choices have on the planet. 

In short, the industry must adapt now to create a future that is both financially and environmentally sustainable.