ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP
Historically, the automotive industry has been a dirty business.
From the materials used to manufacture the vehicles to the fuel that powers them,
automobiles have become a looming environmental concern over the years. Today, vehicles
are more efficient and the manufacturing process has started to take a closer look at how
to maintain a sustainable relationship with the environment.
In fact, many manufacturing plants such as Subaru, Ford, and GM are already incorporating Zero Waste
initiatives wherein no manufacturing waste will end up in landfills.
The owner of Baum Blvd. Automotive, Chuck Wichrowski, strongly believes in environmental stewardship.
In addition to being a board member of Pittsburgh Region Clean Cities, Chuck is a sponsor of Carnegie
Melon University's Charge Car Program Charge Car's mission is to be dedicated to open, community centered
teamwork for making electric vehicles practical and affordable enough to revolutionize urban commuting.
In 2013, Baum Blvd. Automotive installed an Electric Car Charging station. We did this for two main reasons.
The first is to demonstrate to other businesses and institutions that it is very easy to provide car charging
service for their customers and employees. Second, it is part of our continued efforts to support and service
alternative fuel vehicles. As automobile technology changes, we will always do our best to keep up with the
changing technology. Our charging station will be free of charge to anybody with an electric vehicle; so if
you have an electric vehicle, stop by any time to have it re-charged!
Our environmental compliance officer, Ryan Hart, works with the technicians and management to determine best
practices and minimize our negative impact on the environment. While automotive repair is a dirty business,
we are doing our part to make our business clean.
Our practices include:
-
Proper repair and maintenance of your engine to ensure the most complete combustion of the fuel
used which minimizes harmful pollutants and maximizes fuel efficiency.
- Repair and maintenance on hybrid, electric, and biodiesel.
- We recycle ALL automotive fluids including oil, antifreeze, transmission fluid, etc.
- We recycle ALL plastic and cardboard materials.
- We recycle tires through established recycling companies (Liberty Tire) that ensure that they DO NOT end up in landfills.
- Whenever possible, we eliminate aerosol cans by using refillable containers that use compressed air as the propellant.
- We use an aqueous (water) based brake cleaner instead of the petroleum/chemical based cleaners.
- We clean the shop floor every night to ensure that no contaminants enter the sewage system.