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One of our great suppliers, Mohawk is stepping up their green carpet and flooring efforts in a big way.  Enoy this article off the presses. 

If you’re like many homeowners, you may never have thought about the “green” options available right below your feet.

Being a socially responsible homeowner can start from the ground up. Installing flooring alternatives such as carpet made from recycled plastic bottles, reclaimed hardwood or laminate made with pre-consumer waste can help save the environment one step at a time.

All across the country, buildings and structures are being dismantled. Generally, the waste is dumped into landfills. One flooring company is trying to reverse that trend by salvaging old materials for use in its reclaimed hardwood flooring and laminate boards.

“Landfills around the globe are being filled up at alarming rates,” said Jenny Cross, Mohawk Industries senior sustainability manager. “Our laminate boards are produced with 74 percent pre-consumer recycled content, allowing us to keep 680 million pounds of material out of landfills. We also use wood from ancient buildings, some as old as 600 years, for our reclaimed hardwood flooring. This elegant wood really adds unique character to any home.”

In addition, the company keeps waste out of landfills by recycling nearly 3 billion plastic bottles each year for its EverStrand carpets. The recycled bottles are sorted, ground into fine chips, cleaned, melted and extruded into fiber, then spun into beautiful, soft carpet yarn. Every part of the plastic bottles, including the cap and the label, is recycled for use in various products.

Mohawk is also leading innovation in renewably sourced flooring. “We’re taking carpet fiber literally from the field to the floor with our SmartStrand with DuPont Sorona renewably sourced polymer carpet,” said Cross. “This carpet allows homeowners to go green while still experiencing superior stain resistance and being able to choose from a vast selection of stylish colors and patterns.”

The flooring manufacturer is an environmental steward in many ways. For instance, it operates a million-square-foot plant boiler on renewable energy from bio-based fuel. In addition, its use of animal fat as a renewable energy source greatly reduces global warming emissions. The company also either uses or sells all sawdust and excess wood waste to be used as fuel. And several of its sites are investigating the use of synthetic fuels that would replace coal.

Eco Friendly Carpets
There is a tremendous effort being made these days to preserve what is left of our natural resources and to protect our environment from further unnecessary damage. Many people are turning to alternative products for many of their needs, everything from the food we eat to the fuel we put in our vehicles. Even the material we use to a put a roof over our head can be chosen to help in the eco effort. What isn’t so well known is that what is under feet can also be eco friendly, and it doesn’t have to be an all natural dirt floor either.

When considering eco friendly carpet, there are a few things you should know before you decide.

Mainly about the construction of the carpet, make sure that the carpet fibers, the adhesive, the backing, and the padding are all created from materials found in nature, and are a renewable resource. Pure wool is a good choice for the carpet fibers, as long as (more…)