Company Celebrates 10th Anniversary, Eco-Friendly Approach

Clearwater Impex Group, based in the Kingston, Ont. region, is celebrating 10 years in the “interior protection” side of the auto service sector and the recent greening of its product line.
Opening in 1998 as a wholesaler and direct seller of disposable seat and floor covers to shops and dealerships, the company has recently discontinued all selling of disposables in favour of its unique, cost saving, reusable seat and floor covers.
“We just couldn’t keep on a ‘business as usual’ track as far as the environment was concerned” says Roland Zikmanis, president of Clearwater. “The impact that disposables have on our planet from all sources is quite significant, and looking at all those cases and cases of disposables in our warehouse that were going to end up in landfills, not to mention the greenhouse gas emissions as a result of producing them, we knew that the company would have to change direction.”
The biggest challenge that Clearwater has been facing is the acceptance that things have to change out in the service sector. Technicians are so ingrained with the ease of using disposable covers that, as with most Canadians, something new is always met with a little resistance.
“We knew this would be one step to overcome, but the industry is coming to accept a new method of keeping their customers’ cars clean on the inside while servicing especially when they find out it’s no harder using our cover than disposables. We are finding that jobbers and technicians are realizing that commerce, as in life, is an ongoing journey that requires constant tweaking and that this is just one of those tweaks,” added Zikmanis.
Rising petroleum costs have also helped Clearwater in its trek down the environmental path. Usage of its Eco Covers actually saves shops money since the covers can be used over a hundred times and with the cost of disposables rising, shops can save up to 75% or more on the cost of interior service protection. Added to that, the opportunity to advertise to their customers their dedication to environmental responsibility makes for a great entry of the Eco Covers into the shops.
“We are looking forward to the next 10 years and the positive impact we will have with our product. We are proud to contribute to our planet’s as well as the service industry’s well being.”