Connie Dutton retrieves a dry-cleaned item for a customer. (Photo by Lisa Aciukweicz)
The dry cleaning business owned and operated by Connie Dutton, located in the former post office on Mass. Ave., has been a fixture here since 2002. Recently Dutton decided to “go green.”
Her greatest motivation in making the decision to become chemical-free was her customers. “Good customers are like good wines,” she says. “You want to keep them around. I have many people bringing in their kids’ clothes and blankets. They are worried about the chemicals touching their skin. I want to keep them happy, so I changed to organic.”
Organic dry cleaning is becoming extremely popular in Massachusetts. One of the major reasons for this trend relates to the main chemical used in traditional dry cleaning—perchloroethylene, also known as perc. The Environmental Protection Agency classifies perc as an air contaminant that must be handled as hazardous waste.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) is so concerned with the toxicity of perc that it commissioned a study on it and determined that long-term exposure can cause liver, kidney, and central nervous-system damage. The results of this study prompted legislation, effective July 1, which will require any company in the commonwealth that has 10 or more employees and uses at least 1,000 pounds of perc annually to report that use to MassDEP.
Because of this concern, Dutton sees the future of dry cleaning changing. She believes that, based on this new legislation, dry cleaners will one day be required to be chemical-free. “This perc is not safe for the water supply or septic systems. I believe that the state will make a law banning it,” she says. “I thought that changing over before that happened was a good idea.”
The cost for Dutton to use the new organic company is three times higher than the cost of using her former company. Despite this, Dutton has increased her prices by only 20 cents for shirts and 50 cents for pants, blouses, and coats. When asked if she was happy with the change, she answers with a resounding “Yes!”. According to Dutton, the clothes come back looking and smelling better than they used to. In fact, she says, she has had many customers comment they have noticed there is no longer any odor on their belongings or in her shop.
