In today’s marketplace  greenwashing is rampant.  Many companies are purposefully misleading consumers to believe that their products are environmentally friendly in order to catch that ever-important environmentally aware segment of the population.  In such a day, I wondered if there was really a thing as a green vacuum cleaner.

Sure, I’d heard the green benefits of installing a central vacuum system.  Longer life and no bags both equal less impact on the landfills.  With my modest pocketbook, the upfront price of $2000 plus to install a central vacuum system was out of my league.  A portable vacuum was more my speed.

In my attempt to answer this question, the friendly people at Eureka offered to send me their new, green Envirovac to try for myself.  I explained to them that I live in a busy household with two energetic kids, a frantic husband and one crazy cat.   Carpet, hardwoods, linoleum, and drapes are all included in the household.  The brave people at Eureka didn’t seem the least bit concerned.  Game on.

The Eureka Envirovac arrived in a 100% recycled and unbleached box.  The vacuum boasted such environmentally responsible features as an 8 amp motor (33% less energy to operate) and a washable HEPA filter (cleaner air and less waste).  How very green!

Now for the real test.  My eight year-old’s bedroom.  Walls of pink and floor of stink.  After a thorough going over with the Envirovac, average is the best way to describe the suction and power.  It picked-up most of the crumbs and lint yet the carpet pile was left matted.

Then, came the baseboard test.  Dust bunnies just love to party along my baseboards.  This test involved a piece of graphite from a pencil lying ½ inch from the baseboard on my relatively new carpet.  Pass after pass and that graphite didn’t budge.  I eventually had to use the easily detachable hose that travels on the vacuum to clean the perimeter of the bedroom.

Finally, came the hardwood floor test.  This was a first to me since I have never before vacuumed my hardwood floors for fear of scratching.  The Eureka Envirovac left my floor just like I found it.  Scratch free.  Although chunks of sand and pretzel bits were kicked back at my ankles.  Not the most comfortable of side effects.  Wearing boots may lessen the sting next time.

Eureka Envirovac promotes their one touch, bag-free, emptying system.  Easy and bagless.  True.  Yet, the weekly filter cleaning isn’t as easy and will probably take some practice to master without coating your floor with a new layer of dust.

Want to really green your cleaning of hard floors?  Think of grandma and use a dustpan and broom.  You will save electricity and maybe burn a few calories while you are at it.  As for carpets, I can’t give you a firm yes or no.  If it is electricity that you are looking to save, go for it and buy the new Eureak Envirovac.  If it is performance that you are looking for, keep looking.

More »

FLOR, the modular carpet company that offers a ‘Return & Recycle’ program, has just made available their new Martha Stewart Floor Designs.

FLOR, teamed up with Ms. Stewart to create Martha Stewart Floor Designs. Interior design a la Martha Stewart is now even more accessible to the DIY set.

Derived from Ms. Stewart’s personal collections and her own homes — Lily Pond in the New York Hamptons, Skylands in Maine, Turkey Hill, built over two centuries ago in Westport, Connecticut — Martha Stewart carpet collections, now include carpet tiles from FLOR. FLOR’s Martha Stewart Floor Designs, available in a variety of styles, colors and textures, are a good start for budget-conscious DIY’ers who want to create tranquil and intimate bedrooms, vibrant family rooms and warm, inviting living areas, says the FLOR team.

The Martha Steward carpet styles come in 9 different collections with multiple patterns in each collection.  Pricing ranges $5-6+ sq. ft, and the carpet tiles can be purchased directly from the FLOR website, or various FLOR retail outlets.

More »

When a carpeting company claims to offer a green home remodel solution, what do they mean?   This week Mohawk puts their stamp on an explanation:

• Today, Mohawk will recycle 8 million plastic bottles, turning it into 275,000 square
  yards of beautiful carpeting.
• Today, Mohawk will divert more than 475,000 pounds from going into a landfill,
  recycling it into usable materials.
• Today, Mohawk will produce hardwood flooring that reclaims wood from torn-down buildings.
• Today, Mohawk will use renewably sourced materials instead of petroleum-based
  products to make soft, durable, stain-resistant carpeting.
• Mohawk will do all this and hundreds of more Earth-friendly efforts. And Mohawk
  will do it tomorrow, the day after that and every day following.

More »

What are your eco-friendly carpet options?  We will put that list together for you soon.  In the meantime, we wanted to deliver some news from one carpet and flooring manufacturer that is publically calling attention to their efforts to ease pressure on the environment:  Mohawk Industries.  They have started some early hype around what looks to be some further eco-friendly carpet and flooring options that will be available this Fall.

Historically, Mohawk is/has been a supplier of flooring for both residential (and commercial) applications. Mohawk offers a complete selection of carpet, ceramic tile, wood, stone, laminate, vinyl, rugs and other home products. These products are marketed under the brands Mohawk, Karastan, Ralph Lauren, Lees, Bigelow, Quick Step, Dal-Tile and American Olean.

Mohawk Industries, focuses on environmentally friendly business practices that benefit the consumer, the environment, and the bottom line. For example, since 1999, Mohawk has recycled more than 17 billion plastic bottles for use in its PET (polyethylene terephthalate) carpet. With increased consumer interest in protecting the environment, Mohawk wants consumers to know that there are a variety of high-quality green options when it comes to flooring.

“It’s easy to say you’re green, but it’s not so easy to actually be green,” said Frank Endrenyi, vice president of sustainable development at Mohawk Industries. “We’re thrilled to offer consumers top-of-the line flooring that has a proven green story to go along with it.”

“We’re taking carpet fiber literally from the field to the floor,” said Jeffrey S. Lorberbaum, chairman and chief executive officer, Mohawk Industries. “We’re looking forward to giving our industry another remarkable innovation — one that will benefit our consumers, and the environment.”

Mohawk claims innovation in eco-friendly products and practices with a wide range of projects, including recycling programs, use of renewable fuels, and energy- and emission-cutting efforts.  The company touts themselves as the largest recycler in the flooring industry, Mohawk diverts more than three billion pounds of pre- and post- consumer waste from landfills each year. More than 500 Mohawk products — carpet, carpet tiles, laminates, and ceramic tile — contain recycled materials.

Carpet Made from 100% Post-Consumer Material

Mohawks’ everSTRAND(TM) PET carpet is made from 100 percent post-consumer materials. The Company extrudes the PET fiber from the three billion plastic bottles that it recycles each year — that’s one in every four recycled plastic bottles in North America.

At its Greenworks Center in Chatsworth, Georgia, Mohawk also recycles old carpet removed from office buildings and homes across the country, and then processes it into the plastics industry as well as other applications such as carpet cores. Carpet is rolled around these cores for transportation and storage. Typically, carpet cores are made from cardboard and discarded after each use. Mohawk saves thousands of trees every year by making reusable plastic cores from post-consumer materials.

Mohawk can process all major types of synthetic carpet fiber: nylon, polyester, and polypropylene. What’s more, the Mohawk Greenworks Center uses patent pending technology to process 100 percent of the carpet –fiber, backing, and latex — and recover 90 percent of all materials for reuse.

Renewably-Sourced Residential Carpet Fiber

In a partnership with DuPont, Mohawk will launch its carpet featuring SmartStrand(R) with DuPont(TM) Sorona(R) renewably sourced polymer this fall. Not only does this luxuriously soft carpet offer extreme durability and revolutionary stain protection, it will also soon be partly produced from renewable corn sources rather than petroleum.

“This carpet represents a new frontier in sustainable flooring,” Endrenyi noted. “For every seven square yards of carpet featuring SmartStrand(R) with DuPont(TM) Sorona(R) renewably sourced polymer produced, we save a gallon of gasoline.”

Mohawk Greenworks

The Company’s green efforts are being promoted under the “Mohawk Greenworks” umbrella. For more information regarding all of Mohawk’s key Greenworks projects, visit http://www.mohawkgreenworks.com, or their company blog at www.greenworksblog.com.

More »