Earth Day and Our Goals
This month marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. It was a day started in 1970 by a Senator from Wisconsin concerned about the effects of a huge oil spill on the environment. It has grown to a global collaborative focused on dealing with the issues facing us today. We at Graham’s Flooring and Design have made it one of our primary goals to do our part to protect the earth by reducing our carbon footprint as much as possible. We have set a variety of goals around this for the year and we believe it’s our responsibility to help the environment every day. Our primary goals for 2020 include the following: reducing the amount of paper used in our business; reducing plastic usage; increasing our recycling program, including recycling all pad pulled from homes with carpet installations; working with companies that have environmental programs; and offering products with low VOCs and no phthalates.
Reducing use of Paper
In 2019, we were able to reduce our use of paper 25% over the previous year. In 2020, we set an ambitious goal of reducing our usage another 25%. As of the end of this first quarter we are on target for this goal!
Reduce Plastic Usage
Our goal is to reduce plastic bottle use by 50% in 2020. We continue to offer water bottles to customers who visit our showroom (and sometimes delivery drivers). Our employees use reusable water bottles, coffee cups and silverware.
Recycling
We do our part to recycle what we can. For example:
- All of the pad we pull out from homes gets recycled.
- We recycle paper, plastic, cardboard, glass and aluminum. We have encouraged our installers to increase the amount of recycling they do, particularly with the cardboard that many of our products come in.
- Between the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020 we recycled about feet 26,000 square feet of old carpet taken from a commercial job site.
Working with Environmentally Sensitive Suppliers
We are committed to working with companies that also have a focus on reducing their environmental impact. One example of this is our partnership with Shaw Industries. Since 2006, Shaw has recycled over 1 billion pounds of carpet, and have reduced their use of water decreased by 36 percent since 2010 (https://shawinc.com/Files/2018-Sustainability-Report).
Chemical Free
All of the products that we sell are phthalate free and have low VOCs. Phthalates are a family of industrial chemicals added to plastics to increase flexibility, transparency, durability and longevity. It’s often used to soften polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic as well. Gases from certain solids or liquids, including a variety of household and building products emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
We continue to strive toward a more earth friendly business, and to bring products to you that are safe with low environmental impact. If you want to discuss eco-friendly flooring options, or anything else related to Fort Collins flooring, please contact Grahams Flooring & Design and we’ll be happy to help!