Greener Products for Greener Building
Currently there is about 4 billion lbs of carpet added to American landfills each year. This carpet is added to a disgustingly large amount already sitting there today. It takes at least 7 years for carpet to decompose and yet an estimated 9 billion lbs of new carpet are sold a year with the only hope that it will be ripped up and thrown “away” to lay down something else to meet the fast changing trends and personal taste.
I'm an interior design student and I'm quickly learning that there is a large responsibility in the hands of future designers. A responsibility to insure that the harmful and wasteful consumption of building and design can not continued. Sounds like a big burden right? Well, as we can all agree (and to quote a cliché) every little bit counts.
Back to carpet, last week my class visited InterfaceFLOR, a carpet manufacturer and supplier. While there I had a realization. The first step, as a designer, towards a environmentally responsible design is to pledge to use environmentally responsible manufacturers. This might sound obvious, but it really takes understanding and knowing how manufacturing works to really understand a company. Not just picking a product labeled “green.” It's not a difference between cheap carpet or expensive carpet, a pattern or color choice, or even a choice of how much carpet you need. First and for most it's a choice of whether or not you want to continue wasteful practices or take a step in a new direction.
That is was InterfaceFLOR promotes: steps towards change and a new way of thinking when it comes to the manufacturing of carpet.
I want to start by taking you through my day at InterfaceFLOR, starting at their weaving plants and ending at their “think tank” (creatively named AWAREhouse). So stick with me it's not as boring I as it may seem.
First, a little back story about Interface as a company. They were founded around 50 years ago and were one of the first companies to bring “modular” carpet tiles to America. It wasn't until 1994, however, that their new CEO Ray Anderson pushed the idea that not only modular carpet produced less waste than traditional carpeting but that it was important to also manufacturer the product in the most sustainable way.
After being introduced to the company we were shown the product. Interface now only produces carpet “tiles” which lay on the floor in a grid attached only by a sticker (they call “TakTiles”) on each corner. Traditional carpet must be purchased in 12 ft minimum wide rolls and purchased in length by the yard. Instillation of traditional carpet either requires environmentally harmful glue or nailing. Interface's carpet-tile-installation-system alone dramatically reduces carpet waste by not requiring the purchase of another 12 ft roll when you only need another few feet or so. For example if you have a 13 foot wide room you would need to buy two rolls or traditional carpet and 11 feet would be wasted. With carpet tiles you only need a few more tiles with only inches of waste. Also, there is not need for glue. The TacTiles are basically stickers that stick to the carpet-tile to hold them all in place, and not the floor. So no damage to the floor and the TackTiles are also recyclable. For a 10,000 square foot space that would use 56 gallons of non-recyclable or reusable glue you would only need 80 recyclable TacTiles that measure 4in x 4in.
We were then taken through the mill to see the carpet being woven, it was like being on the show “How it's Made”. It wasn't until we saw the recycling plant, where they recycle reclaimed carpet, that I noticed how this company was not only reducing their waste but also reducing waste produced by other carpet manufactures. Interface uses 35% pre-consumer recycled content (scraps and stuff from their own mill that would normally be thrown away) and 30% post-consumer recycled content (reclaimed carpet) to produce their carpet. This is nearly three times more than most carpet producers.
InterfaceFLOR really stood out to me as a sustainable company after we were taken to their AwareHouse. This is the place were they test and show new product ideas and conceive ways to improve their product and company. The latest environmental goal they have created is for zero impact.
Interface announces that:
“We call this goal Mission Zero, our promise to eliminate any negative impact our company may have on the environment by 2020.”
Upon leaving that day I realized that InterfaceFLOR is the kind of company I need to support as a designer. It is truly their company's mentality towards the relationship between humans and the environment that can carry us into a better future.
Find more information at www.interfaceflor.com and for purchansing carpet at www.flor.com
InterfaceFLOR. Web. 03 Feb. 2012. <http://www.interfaceflor.com/default.aspx? section=3>.
InterfaceFLOR. Greener Products for Greener Builings. LaGrange: InterfaceFLOR, 2010. Print.
