One man pushes the carpet industry to go green

The petroleum intensive industry of carpet is going green with the leadership and ambition of Ray Anderson, founder and chairman of Interface, Inc., the world's largest manufacturing of modular carpeting. A pioneer in corporate sustainability, Anderson set an ambitious goal in 1997 of Mission Zero®, a promise to eliminate any negative impact Interface, Inc. may have "on the environment, by the year 2020, through the redesign of processes and products, the pioneering of new technologies, and efforts to reduce or eliminate waste and harmful emissions while increasing the use of renewable materials and sources of energy."

Says Anderson, “If we’re successful, we’ll spend the rest of our days harvesting yester-year’s carpets and other petrochemically derived products, and recycling them into new materials; and converting sunlight into energy; with zero scrap going to the landfill and zero emissions into the ecosystem. And we’ll be doing well … very well … by doing good. That’s the vision.”

Anderson's quest for sustainability doesn't begin and end with Interface, Inc.; he also drives a Prius and built an off-the-grid home. An author of several books, his latest, Confessions of a Radical Industrialist, hit the shelves last month.

Guiltless Green Home Theater

If you were struggling with your green conscious over whether you should get a home theater or entertainment center, but feeling guilty about the amount of power it would consume, struggle no more! Just get the new Guiltless Green Home Theater, designed by The Home Theater Specialists of America, HTSA, an association of 61 custom home theater designers.

The Guiltless Green Home Theater is powered by four solar panels mounted on the roof that help offset the electricity needs of the theater's Sharp XV-Z15000 DLP projector, a 100-inch Stewart Filmscreen, an Integra DTR-5.9 receiver, the Sharp BD-HP50 Blu-ray player and SpeakerCraft’s AIM 8-1 in-walls, MT-1 in-wall and Bass X10 in-wall subwoofer, Lutron Grafik Eye lighting system and Salamander Designs’ Geneva Twin20 equipment cabinet and Alex theater chairs and is offered for $29,575, complete with the solar panels and installation.

According to HTSA, the solar panels will pay for themselves over four years of energy savings. After that, you’re in the black…and in the green the whole time.

In addition to the long-term savings in energy costs, solar panels can add more value to your home, and a number of rebates and tax incentives exist on a state and federal level. Through 2016, the federal government will offer a 30 percent rebate on the cost of solar panels. For more information about Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency, go to energystar.gov/taxcredits and for your individual state go to the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency at dsire.com.

Going Green at the Sundance Film Festival

I'd like to say I'm not at the Sundance Film Festival this year (Jan. 15-25) in Park City, Utah because I'm doing my part to reduce global warming by not traveling there, but that would be a lie. I simply can't afford it (time and money) this year.

But I am happy to see that the Festival is participating in a campaign to reduce bottled water waste, since plastic bottles almost never biodegrade. Teaming up with Brita and Nalgene in their FilterForGood campaign, attendees at this year’s festival will receive reusable Nalgene bottles they can fill at Brita Hydration Stations located throughout the festival.
According to Sundance's website, "Brita’s FilterForGood campaign aims to educate Americans on the environmental effects of bottled water and why together, filtered water and a reusable bottle are an ideal solution for going green at home and on the go. Thanks to Brita and Nalgene, the 2009 Sundance Film Festival will reduce the need for the 50,000 bottles of water" that were distributed at last years Festival.

And for those of us doing are part to reduce global warming by not traveling to the festival, we can purchase our own green FilterForGood bottle for around $10.