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They didn’t know an environmentally friendly product could be found with those same qualities.
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Ed Moulis of Lewiston installs corn sugar-based carpet, an alternative to standard nylon carpeting, in the Winona home of Emilio and Monica De Grazia last week.
(Photo by Melissa Carlo/Winona Daily News) |
“We kind of stumbled into it,” Monica said. “We didn’t know it existed.”
While many consumers are now looking around their home to find new ways or products to save energy and the environment, some like the De Grazias have found thinking green starts at the ground level.
Local decorating and flooring companies say carpeting made from sources such as corn or recycled pop bottles are becoming top sellers — mainly because of high stain resistance, durability, cushy texture and trendy colors. Bamboo, cork and laminate tiles follow suit as a plastic flooring alternative.
The majority of customers look at pattern, design, color and softness, said Tom Reeck, owner of Engrav’s Decorating Center in Winona. The “green factor” is just an added bonus, he said.
“Consumers like the carpet because it’s soft,” Reeck said. “We like it because we know it’s going to wear well and clean beautifully.”
Dave Ziegeweid, owner of Lyle’s Flooring America, said they’ve seen a surprising increase in customers of all ages asking about environmentally friendly carpet. Some want to make sure their greenbacks go toward a green cause, he said.
Most carpets are made from petroleum-based synthetic fibers like nylon. Add the backing, glue and padding, and there are dozens of toxins and gases that can cause indoor air quality issues such as “off gas,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The carpet industry has made substantial progress in recent years to reduce chemical emissions, and energy and water usage in the manufacturing process, according to the EPA.
But the EPA finds more than 4 billion pounds of carpet enter the solid waste stream every year. Locally, Winona County Environmental Services does not offer used carpet recycling.
Beauliea and Mohawk’s EverStrand have traded regular nylon yarn for plastic soda bottles chipped into polyethyene terephathalate, or PET, and extruded into fiber to make carpet. The process diverts the pop bottles from landfills.
Almost 40 percent of Mohawk’s SmartStrand carpets are made of a “renewably sourced” polymer fiber produced from corn sugar instead of petroleum.
The production process requires 30 percent less energy and lowers greenhouse gas emissions by 63 percent compared with nylon manufacturing, according to Mohawk.
Shumski’s Inc. owner Mary Jo Sullivan categorized PET carpet as “one-sided green,” because although it’s made from recycled pop bottles there isn’t a way to recycle it back into carpeting again.
Sullivan said Shaw’s GreenEdge brand uses “nylon 6,” which is easier to recycle at its end of life. The company offers “cradle-to-cradle” services using every piece of yarn in the manufacturing process n scraps to create energy and reusing old carpet to make new carpet, she said.
But “the colors are not as vibrant versus the ones produced from raw materials,” Sullivan said.
That’s just it, she said: There’s always a hitch to choosing green carpeting.
With 90 percent of the carpeting mills in Georgia, Sullivan said, it’s hard for Winona to be “truly” green because of transportation costs and effects.
“They go for color, design and feel, and then you give them a price,” Sullivan said. “But not all green is more expensive.”
Schumski’s sales consultant Carol Drazkowski estimated green tiles and carpet start at about $10 a square foot, not including installation or padding. Certain wood floors cost about $5 a square foot and ceramic tiling about $6 a square foot.
The De Grazias felt the costs were comparable. They liked the polished look the carpet gave their home and that it didn’t give off any chemical odors like other new carpet.
“When in doubt, we go green if we can,” Emilio De Grazia said. “We’re making a very small individual decision to encourage manufacturers and sellers to think of green.”
Contact reporter Amber Dulek at amber.dulek@lee.net or (507)453-3513.
