WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather & SportsBody Shop 'Goes Green'

Body Shop 'Goes Green'

Callie Starnes
Eyewitness News Reporter

Chattanooga (WRCB) - A Chattanooga body shop is hoping to start a trend across the Tennessee Valley by changing the products they use for paint jobs.

The automotive industry has always used a solvent-based product to paint everything from cars to mobile homes, but beginning Wednesday Advanced Collision on Gunbarrel Road will use only water-based paint which significantly reduces emissions.

"One gallon a week, for a year would be like taking 1,000 cars off the road," said owner Curt Swearingin.

It is a concept that has already stuck with 90 percent of manufacturers like Volkswagen, which announced last week that Chattanooga will house its newest auto assembly plant.

"With Volkswagen going to produce over 150,000 cars in the first year, that is going to put a lot of materials on cars, and its not going to be as harmful as if it would be if they were using a solvent-based," said Swearingin.

Water-based paint is not only better for the environment, it also provides a cleaner look and allows for a closer paint match, which are all incentives for others to follow Advanced Collision's lead.

Canada, Europe and parts of California now mandate the use of water-based paints. It may be only a matter of time before those regulations make their way to Tennessee.