Earth Day is Sunday April 22, but few in the wider public will be aware of just how much goes on in the aftermarket to help keep this planet in good shape.

There is a whole host of activities that you take for granted that keep cars on the road, pollutants out of the air, and hazardous wastes out of the watershed, all in the course of a standard day in the service bay.

But customers may not know. Here are three examples you may want to share:

Battery Recycling

Probably the most striking example of this is the car battery. A standard lead/acid car battery is 98% recyclable.

Furthermore, an established infrastructure is in place to ensure that this is handled safely and efficiently. There is literally no good reason for batteries to pile up in the corner of a car owners garage. The U.S. EPA says that batteries are actually the most recycled products in North America, with more than 99% of batteries being recycled, more than aluminum cans or newspapers.

Remanufacturing

Energy Conservation: Automotive and truck parts are kept out of the resmelting process longer because of remanufacturing. As a result, millions of barrels of oil or comparable forms of energy are saved.

Raw Material Conservation: Remanufacturing gives a product numerous lives instead of just one, thereby saving on raw materials. Rebuilders annually save millions of tons of natural resources such as iron, aluminum, copper, etc.

Landfill Space Conserved: Landfills are spared from the dumping of of millions of tons of iron, aluminum, copper, etc., because of the monetary value the industry places on parts. This “core charge” ensures parts are returned to be rebuilt.

Air Pollution Reduced: Keeping parts out of the resmelting process benefits the environment by reducing the air pollution that is generated by remelting.

E.G. About 50% of the original STARTER is recovered in the remanufacturing process. This can result in annual savings in the U.S. of 8.2 million gallons of crude oil from steel manufacturing, 51,500 tons of iron ore, and 6,000 tons of copper and other metals.

Efficient vehicle operation

By maintaining vehicles in a good state of repair, they operate more efficiently and safely. In addition, a reliable vehicle is kept longer, which reduces the need to replace it, keeping the old one out of the waste stream, and saving the need to build a new one.

Not only does that lower the cost to the environment, it keeps green in your customer’s wallet too!