Ray Anderson Carpet Sustainability
It awakened him to the urgent need to set a new course for interface.
Ray anderson carpet sustainability. At his carpet company ray anderson has increased sales and doubled profits while turning the traditional take make waste industrial system on its head. On july 28 2012 anderson s family re launched the ray c. This talk was presented at an official ted conference and was featured by our editors on the home page. Hear the story directly from ray in the video below.
Our promise to eliminate any negative impact our company may have on the environment by the year 2020. Anderson died on august 8 2011 twenty months after being diagnosed with cancer. Anderson carpet tile mogul dies at 77 los. He proved to the world that swinging for the.
When reading greenbiz or any of the other numerous media channels that cater to the field of sustainable business it s easy to forget that such a notion scarcely existed 20 years ago. What ray anderson calls his conversion experience occurred in the summer of 1994 when he was asked to give the sales force at interface the carpet tile company he founded some talking points. He shook the foundations of the petroleum intensive carpet manufacturing industry by declaring that interface was committed to becoming the world s first environmentally sustainable and ultimately restorative company. He transformed the firm into a model of sustainability.
Anderson was founder and chairman of interface inc one of the world s largest manufacturers of modular carpet for commercial and residential applications and a leading producer of commercial broadloom and commercial fabrics. Ray anderson founded the company that makes covetable flor carpeting. They call this drive mission zero. Image via interface twenty years ago last week interface founder and ceo ray anderson spoke the word sustainability for the first time.
Why you should listen. Anderson s georgia based firm interface makes carpet tiles from petroleum products. In a gentle understated way he shares a powerful vision for sustainable commerce. He was known in environmental circles for his advanced and progressive stance on industrial ecology and sustainability.
But behind the fresh design is a decades deep commitment to sustainable ways of doing business culminating in the mission zero plan. Anderson focused the company s attention on sustainable decision making taking a hard look at suppliers manufacturing processes and the beginning to end life cycle of all its products.