PAINTLESS DENT REPAIR: THE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY CHOICE IN PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA

Saturday, April 22, 2023, is Earth Day!  We at Dent Repair Now thought we’d take this opportunity to share with you how paintless dent repair is the greenest and most environmentally safe option for eco-consumers. With little to no byproducts and low waste, paintless dent repair is the number one choice for you, your car, and the planet.

Earth Day is an annual event that is celebrated on April 22nd each year. It is a day dedicated to raising awareness about environmental issues and promoting sustainability.  Earth Day was first observed on April 22, 1970, when an estimated 20 million people nationwide attended events at thousands of celebration sites including elementary and secondary schools, universities, and community centers across the United States.  According to google, the date was selected in part because it fell between colleges’ spring break and final exams, and also from the observance of Arbor Day, which began in Nebraska in 1872, a day when people are encouraged to plant trees. One of the ways individuals can contribute to a cleaner environment today is by choosing environmentally friendly options in their everyday lives. This includes choosing eco-friendly products and services. We’d like to tell you how we contribute to helping the environment and minimize our carbon footprint.

Paintless dent repair is a process that removes dents and dings from a vehicle’s body without the need for sanding, filler, or painting. The process involves massaging and manipulating the damaged metal from the inside out.  We use specialized tools to push the metal back into its original shape. This technique is not only eco-friendly, but it can be more cost-effective and take substantially less time than conventional body shop repairs.

Conventional body shop repairs involve using fillers and paint to fix dents, damage and scratches on a vehicle’s body. This process can be time-consuming and expensive, but also creates a vast array of negative impacts on the environment as it requires several steps, such as sanding, priming, painting, and polishing all of which create hazardous waste, harmful chemicals and pollutants, and VOC (volatile chemical compound). Their use of paint, paint overspray, sanding dust, that includes metal filings, paint, protective coating, and leftover paint and filler to be disposed of can have a tremendous deleterious effect on the environment.

“Paint is composed of four basic types of materials:

solvent — The liquid that carries the solid components of paint. It must be present to allow the paint to be of correct consistency for application by brush, roller, spray or dipping.  The most common solvents used in architectural paints are water and organic solvents.

binder — The binder or resin is one of the most important components of paint. It is the basic solid film former that remains after the solvent has evaporated and which binds the pigment particles together into a cohesive paint film.

pigment — This is the component that gives paint its other most important properties of color and opacity. The pigments used in paint are normally present as fine solid particles that are dispersed, but not soluble, in the binder and solvent.

additives — Additives are the specialist components of paint.  They are used in small quantities to improve production and storage properties of the liquid paint product as well as application and other performance properties of the paint film (e.g., anti-marring agents, anti-mold agents).

The most important environmental impact from paints is the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during the drying process after the coating is applied. Virtually everything but the solids in a typical paint formulation is released to the air. Once in the atmosphere, VOCs participate in the formation of ozone. In the presence of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sunlight, VOCs react with oxygen in the air to produce ozone, the most toxic component of the form of pollution commonly known as smog. Ozone attacks lung tissue, and is very injurious, even in very low concentrations. 

Reference: International Journal of Research.

Paintless dent repair, on the other hand, does not generate any waste and does not require any harsh chemicals or solvents. This makes it a more environmentally friendly option compared to conventional body shop repairs. Additionally, because paintless dent repair is a quicker process, it reduces the amount of energy and resources used, making it a more sustainable option. We have a brick-and-mortar shop located in Canonsburg, 2603 Washington Rd, Unit 3, Canonsburg, PA 15317. Having a set space in which repairs can be done eliminates the use of multiple trucks and vans traveling the tri-state area. Vehicle pollutants harm our health and contain greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Burning gasoline and diesel fuel creates harmful byproducts like nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, benzene, and formaldehyde. In addition, vehicles emit carbon dioxide, which is the most common human-caused greenhouse gas. 

Paintless dent repair uses almost no toxic chemicals, (we do use corrosion protection on the inside of panels after a repair.  In this case, the benefit far outweighs the impact.  It prevents rusting inside the panels and will increase the longevity of the vehicle).   Also, we save panels on a car, truck , or SUV.   In a body shop, they are either using VOCs to repair a panel, if they are replacing a panel, they still have to paint it, but in addition to that, the old panel ends up in a junk yard or landfill.  Nothing we do during a repair will end up in a landfill or junkyard.  The only waste we produce, are tiny circles of glue from pulling a dent when there is no access from the inside. 

Even a year’s worth of used glue would not take up the space that a box of diapers would.

As we celebrate Earth Day, it is essential to consider the impact our actions have on the environment. Choosing environmentally friendly options for things. Buying recycled and repurpose items that would normally end up in a landfill are some simple ways we can lower our impact on the environment.  When it is an option, choosing paintless dent repair is one way you can reduce our carbon footprint and promote sustainability. By supporting eco-friendly products and services, we can contribute to a cleaner, healthier planet for ourselves and future generations. Earth Day is a reminder of the importance of preserving our planet’s resources and protecting the environment. By choosing paintless dent repair over conventional body shop repairs, we can help reduce waste and promote sustainability. Let us all do our part in protecting the environment and make conscious choices that contribute to a cleaner and greener world.

You can learn more from our website https://dentrepairnow.com/ and you can see how we do our repairs on our YouTube channel (if you like what you see, be sure to like and subscribe!)  You can call us at 724-607-8980 or fill out a form on our website and we’ll get in touch with you!