Local Biz Makes House Cleaning Eco-Friendly

This environmentally conscious business is based in Byrd Park and bicycle commutes to worksites all over the city. Here’s their press release:

BIKE RUN MAID BRIGADE MAKES EVERYDAY EARTH DAY IN RICHMOND!

Ultra Eco-friendly house cleaning service provides example of growing increase in Earth friendly consumer options and growing local economy.

Riding bikes to help reduce their contributions to air pollution, and making cleaning products with safe household ingredients such as vinegar, Borax, and baking soda, River City Cleaning, LLC takes care of local Richmonders and the Earth with style.  Covering the Richmond metro area, River City Cleaning, LLC will bike to their customers bringing all of their supplies in bike trailers, and provide a non-toxic house or office cleaning.   Having only started serving Richmond in July of 2008, River City Cleaning, LLC has grown in order to accommodate customers in The Fan, Museum District, Carrytown, Byrd Park, Northside, Lakeside, Forest Hill, Westover Hills, U of R, and Church Hill.  On Sunday April 25th they will be hosting a booth at the Richmond Earth Day Festival to share how they made their bike trailers and give away homemade cleaning tips and recipes.

A little mileage can go a long way.  â€œBiking about 36 miles a day, we are preventing more than 30 lbs of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere (1 gallon of gasoline releases about 20lbs of carbon dioxide).  If it takes one average sized tree 1 year to absorb 9lbs of CO2, each day we ride we are doing the work of what three trees absorb in a year by preventing ourselves from burning fossil fuels† says Jen Jackson the company’s founder.  In other words, for every 10  miles a person commutes by bike, they are accounting for 1 average sized tree’s annual carbon dioxide absorption.  When you consider that the majority of automobile trips are within only 5 or 6 miles of home, this is pretty exciting news.

“Biking around town is just as good for your body as it is for the environment.  If we weren’t traveling on bikes, the work we do wouldn’t be nearly as exciting!† says Jen.  RCC crews have been biking consistently through the winter, only taking a seat behind the wheel when inclement weather arrives.  Being as committed to biking as they are to cleaning, RCC crews did  have to take a few days of driving with all the snow that blanketed Richmond this winter.

“We prefer the DIYL approach…do it yourself locally†,  says Jen.  Not only does she make some of her own cleaning supplies, the trailers she and the River City Cleaning crews use are homemade too.  One made of metal conduit pipes, and another with bamboo, her goal was to experiment with affordable and locally available resources.  Using a local, quick growing material such as bamboo and as many locally salvaged materials as possible, their trailers cut down on energy that otherwise would have been spent building a trailer from new materials.  A strong believer in the impact small businesses have in helping to build a strong local economy, RCC owner Jen Jackson aspires to do as much of her consumption from other local businesses- especially thrift stores- as much as possible.

River City Cleaning, LLC will be hosting a booth at the Richmond Earth Day Festival on April 25th.  They will be ready to share how they made their trailers, cleaning products, and answer any other questions you may have about eco-friendly cleaning products, so make sure to find them!

If you would like more information or to schedule an interview with Jen, please contact her at (804) 921 0243 or virginiajen@gmail.com.

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