Interface and Anderson

The carpet company and its visionary CEO in the NYT

Posted by David Roberts at 1:27 PM on 24 May 2007

Read more about: business | greening biz operations | green living | green products

They're a little old now, but I wanted to call attention to two great NYT articles on the environmental initiatives at carpet company Interface and its visionary CEO Ray Anderson:

He challenged his colleagues to set a deadline for Interface to become a "restorative enterprise," a sustainable operation that takes nothing out of the earth that cannot be recycled or quickly regenerated, and that does no harm to the biosphere.

The deadline they ultimately set is 2020, and the idea has taken hold throughout the company. ...

Use of fossil fuels is down 45 percent (and net greenhouse gas production, by weight, is down 60 percent), he said, while sales are up 49 percent. Globally, the company's carpet-making uses one-third the water it used to. The company's worldwide contribution to landfills has been cut by 80 percent.

"He bet his entire company," said Bob Fox, an architect who specializes in "green" buildings and who, like Mr. Anderson, is a member of the advisory board of the Harvard Center for Health and the Global Environment. "It worked out probably better even than he hoped. He has set the mark for every other corporation in this country."

Anderson was Grist's InterActivist way back in Nov. 2004. As far as I'm concerned the guy deserves all the credit in the world.

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Anderson and Hawken

Hey, all:

Thanks, David, for reminding us of Ray Anderson's actions. He gave an interview several years ago in which he said that an employee gave him Paul Hawken's book, "The Ecology of Commerce" (from 1993 but still ahead of its time) and reading the book was a revelation (and it is).

Among things he had done was hire Amory Lovins as a consultant; Interface leases floor coverings to clients and reclaims and recycles that covering at the end of its life; and they have a program for use of biogas from landfills. These are just a couple of things off the top of my head. Anderson is also a pleasure to listen to, for his honesty and ideas, and his genteel Southern accent. He is NOT the archetype of the callous, greedy, corporate businessman.

This also allows the incremental character of sustainability to be reiterated. Some have criticized the futility of small actions, especially for the public at large ('paper or plastic' vs. durable shopping bags comes to mind), but it almost always is a cumulative effect that has to be relied on for results. Criticizing someone for not losing weight overnight is overbearing and counterproductive; so it is with sustainability. Constant encouragement and support, and a positive model are what are needed.

Ray Anderson has made a lot of difference incrementally, will continue to do so, and offers a much better archetype for business to adopt. Paul Hawken deserves a lot of credit.

"Be the change...."

David
Sustainability For Life

Messages done with sustainable energy, with Wind and Sun!

by SustainableGreen at 8:38 AM on 25 May 2007

Do We Really Need "Carpets"

Seriously, the state of apologia in Grist is appalling. So long as the person is rich and can get some elitist journal to publish an article about how "green" they are, the editors of Grist will suck it up like diet Coke.

How about this: wooden floors. Let's skip all the carpet production entirely...how much CO2 would that reduce?

Texeme.Construct(function(x)=Participation(x))

by jabailo at 9:46 AM on 25 May 2007

ADVERTISING POLICY

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