A Georgia Peach

From Tennessee, Cryptic Moth drove south to La Grange, Georgia. We were there to film Interface - the world’s largest commercial carpeting company. If you’ve been inside an airport or office building, chances are you’ve walked on their product.



Why we’re we there?

From the nylon yarn to glues and the vinyl backing, most of it is plastic. What’s bad, a lot of carpet ends up in landfill.



But Interface isn’t your run-of-the-mill carpet company. Highlighted on Discovery and the doc “The Corporation” Interface is a world leader in sustainable business.

What does that mean?

Well, for starters, Interface doesn’t sell carpet rolls. They sell modular tiles. That means one can replace high traffic zones or coffee spills without throwing the whole carpet away. They use recycled, bio-based and non-toxic materials. And that’s just a few examples.



Thanks to a heads-up from Chris T. (thegeographyofhope.com), we were there to see a new technology called Cool Blue.



Stuart, Interface’s VP Sustainable Development, showed us the process. It starts by grinding up old carpeting into plastic pellets.



The pellets are then melted into backing for new carpets. This is cradle to cradle stuff! Interface has already recovered over 20 million tonnes of carpet. They even foresee mining landfills for raw materials.



Speaking of utilizing landfill, the Cool Blue process (among others) is powered by methane captured from the local dump. As we have seen, recycling technologies are energy hogs and this is a great solution.



Dave, the VP of Engineering, drove us out to the landfill to see it for ourselves.



This small system captures the methane and pumps it 10 miles to the factory.



But it is city owned and serves other businesses, making the system a money maker for the community. Dave was the brainchild.



For the interview, we followed him single file through the grass to the top of the old landfill.



He directed us to follow single-file as Tennessee is home to Copperheads and other poisonous – or just plain creepy – critters.



Dave – like everyone at Interface – spoke passionately about how environmental and social consideration, synergized with business, can indeed make money. And they know they’re not perfect. The ultimate goal is to leave no environmental footprint in the production of their products by 2020.



Cryptic Moth wishes them luck.

Many thanks go out to our tour guides and to David G. for setting it all up. And thanks to Interface for showing the way.



We finished off yet another long, hot day by treating ourselves to an upscale dinner at The Basil Leaf in downtown La Grange – a wonderful alternative to the fast food options available until now. Tomorrow we’re Texas-bound.

Out.

G+I