Bernard's Garage

Bernard’s Garage was started back in 1925 in downtown Milwaukie and has always been a good steward of the environment and the community. ECO certification was an idea that was started by the owner Jim Bernard and the board when he was President of the Automotive Service Association of Portland now called NATA. Bernard’s Garage was the first ECO certified shop in Clackamas County about 10 years ago.

Here is a list of those things we did to become a certified ECO shop, the following is only a small portion of our investment to become ECO certified and how we continue our environmental stewardship.

1. We purchased our waste oil burner 10 years ago and it burns all our flammable waste fluids and in turn heats up our shop. The burned waste goes through a catalytic convertor and the only waste is steam. It has saved us $1000 a month in winter and reduced our carbon foot print.

2. It cost us very little to have our antifreeze recycled and resold to other shops at a lower price per gallon We also use this service to pick up our used oil filters which are drained, crushed, and recycled at no cost. There are numerous benefits including access for the community, and a reduction of waste.

3. In the last 10 years we have purchased many pieces of equipment that recover nearly everything; including transmission fluid, engine oil, antifreeze, Freon from air conditioning units, both R12 and R134. These machines are expensive, but have paid for themselves 100 times over.

4. We always refill windshield washer fluid. This a free service to our customers Instead of us purchasing 20 cases at a time, 6 plastic gallon jugs per case, resulting in a cost of about $3.00 per gallon, we have found a new source of the same fluid in a tablet form. 1 tablet makes 1 gallon with the benefit of no plastic jugs, which have been nearly impossible to recycle, and a substancial savings to both the customer and the garage.

5. We buy bulk oil and any other product we possibly can in recyclable barrels as well as the most eco friendly products available to us.

6. Our ceiling is covered with a white moisture barrier which improved our insulation factor and results in increased efficiency of our lighting.

7. We have all the traditional waste management paper, bottle and glass bins for recycling. A lot of the bottles and cans get donated to local charities such as Milwaukie High Schools, Head start, Boy Scouts, etc. Paper is bagged up and sent to the recyclers for proper disposal.

8. Our floor drains are plugged to prevent down fluids from leaking into the sewer system and oil absorbent socks are placed in our storm water collectors. We scrub our floors with biodegradable cleaners and dispose of the waste properly.

9. All our below ground fuel and hydraulic tanks we’re removed in the early 90’s. Our old oil burner furnace was replaced with a high efficiency backup gas furnace and fans distribute the heat throughout the shop.

10. We have replaced all our fluorescent lighting with high efficient, low energy bulbs that reflects a higher intensity light off our ceiling moisture barrier resulting in 25% more lighting at no cost while reducing our energy use.

11. We purchase recycled paper goods and toners, then when they are used up recycled again. The toners get donated to the local charter school for their fund raising / recycling program.

12. All used vehicle batteries are collected and returned back to the vendors for recycling.

We have invested over $40,000 in efficiency that has repaid us many times over.

Bernard’s Garage has invested in efficiency and renewable energy for many reasons not the least of which was the fact that we love our community and want to be good stewards of the environment we have lived in since 1925.

If you want quality automotive repair from a caring staff that is concerned with our environment, then bring your vehicle to Bernard’s Garage in downtown Milwaukie where maintenance is a good investment!