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Corporate Social Responsibility
News
2.23.2006 ET
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CSR News from:
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Interface Purchases More than 33,000 Tons of Carbon Offsets with NativeEnergy
(CSRwire) Interface, Inc. announced today that it is furthering its
sustainability mission by adding an estimated 33,000 tons of emission
reduction credits (ERCs) to its existing portfolio of projects to offset
the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with its Cool Carpet
products.
Since 2003, Interface's customers have bought more than 15 million square
yards of Cool Carpet globally, retiring more than 250,000 metric tons of
CO2 emissions from a balanced portfolio of offset projects. Interface's
ERC purchases to date equate to 54,000 cars not driven for a year, or 28
million gallons of gas not consumed.
The new investments will be made through NativeEnergy in Midwest wind
farms and family-owned dairy farms in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Among
the dairy farm projects is the Schrack Family Farm, a continuous dairy
operation of the Schrack family since the American Revolution.
After rigorous review by the Climate Neutral Network's Environmental
Advisory Board, NativeEnergy's ERCs from these sources qualify for
inclusion in Interface's Cool Carpet Portfolio. Critical to the
eligibility of the ERCs is that the projects can demonstrate
"additionality" - that project implementation is not just "business as
usual". The Network's advisory board includes representatives of the
World Wildlife Fund, the Nature Conservancy, Conservation International,
the Rocky Mountain Institute and other prominent NGOs.
Interface calculated the amount of CO2 emissions from raw materials,
manufacturing, transportation and customer use and had the emissions
verified by the Climate Neutral Network. Interface then offset those
emissions by purchasing Climate CoolTM certified ERCs from NativeEnergy's
renewable energy projects.
Interface sees its sustainability practices, particularly with Cool
CarpetTM, as a major step toward addressing climate destruction.
"Addressing the global warming impact of carpet goes far beyond planting
trees to remove CO2 from the atmosphere," says Mike Bertolucci, president,
Interface Research Corporation.
"A more enduring solution involves the pragmatic and scientific approach
Interface has taken to calculate the total emissions from the life cycle
of the carpet and secure and retire the necessary amount of certified
offsets to neutralize those impacts."
Wind farms and methane energy projects are win-win sources of
cost-effective, greenhouse gas reduction. They provide much needed energy
while helping reduce problems associated with animal waste and industry's
dependence on natural gas, coal, and foreign supplied oil. Renewable
energy sources reduce pollution by displacing energy that would otherwise
have to come from fossil fuel combustion. Farm methane abatement projects
prevent the release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, from manure
storage lagoons, by digesting the manure anaerobically, producing even
more methane, but then capturing and burning it to generate electricity
and useful thermal energy.
Tom Boucher, NativeEnergy President & CEO, says, "Businesses like
Interface are supporting our renewable energy projects by investing in
these emerging projects because it's the right thing to do for our energy
and economic security and environmental protection."
Interface offers Cool Carpet in the U.S. through Interface Flooring
Systems, the world's leading manufacturer of modular carpet (LaGrange, GA
and Belleville, Ontario, Canada) and Bentley Prince Street, a leading
producer of broadloom and modular products in City of Industry, CA. All
i2 products sold by Interface Flooring Systems and all Bentley
Prince Street products purchased within the State of California
automatically include the Cool Carpet attribute for no additional charge.
The attribute is available on any Interface® or Bentley Prince Street
product for a small upcharge.
About Interface
Atlanta-based Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ: IFSIA), is a global leader in the
manufacture of environmentally-responsible floorcoverings and other
textiles in the U.S., Asia-Pacific and Europe through subsidiaries and
divisions such as Bentley Prince Street, Interface Fabrics, Interface
Flooring Systems, InterfaceFLOR and the Prince Street House & Home
Collection. The company is committed to giving the marketplace a
wide range of choices for specifying Earth-friendly and third party
certified Environmentally Preferable Products, with the industry's first
climate neutral carpet, Cool Carpet, as well as the only carpet
product to be designed using biomimicry, the i2 collection from
Interface Flooring Systems. The company also offers a residential carpet
product made by InterfaceFLOR with facecloth fibers produced from a
rapidly-renewable, corn-based polymer. Online at: www.interfacesustainability.com
About NativeEnergy
American Indian majority-owned, NativeEnergy is a national marketer of
renewable energy credits or "green tags," offering individuals and
organizations a means to compensate for their global warming pollution, or
to effectively power their homes and businesses with renewable energy.
NativeEnergy's patent-pending business process brings upfront payment to
renewable projects for their future green tag output, enabling its
customers to help finance the construction of new wind farms and other
renewable energy projects, such as tribal wind projects and methane
digesters on Pennsylvania family dairy farms, which directly reduce our
reliance on fossil fuels to meet the nation's electricity needs.
NativeEnergy also offers Green-e certified green tags from operating wind
farms and Climate Neutral Network certified offsets from operating CO2
mitigation projects. Online at: www.nativeenergy.com.
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