Carbon Neutral
“Carbon neutral” is a term that has come to be used so extensively and in so many different contexts that its meaning has become somewhat obscured. Defining it as something that releases no carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is too simple a definition. It is possible to release CO
2 into the atmosphere and still be carbon neutral, so long as the emission is balanced by a CO
2 reduction elsewhere – in other words, so long as the net effect is zero.
- What Carbon Neutral Means to Interface
As part of Interface’s Mission Zero™, our promise to eliminate any negative impact our company may have on the environment by 2020, we are striving to become a carbon neutral company by measuring, reducing and offsetting our carbon impacts. We are assessing every process in our manufacturing plants, offices and showrooms, evaluating every material we use, and scrutinizing how we transport our products and our people. Interface expanded its carbon neutral goal with a commitment to the
Clinton Global Initiative
- Getting to Carbon Neutral
To Interface, achieving carbon neutral status means measuring our carbon footprint, reducing our emissions where possible and offsetting those we can’t reduce.
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- Interface’s Progress — Carbon Neutral Products
Hundreds of companies and organizations have since joined the carbon-neutral movement — but Interface started early. In 1999, we conceived of the first carbon neutral product for Interface, Cool Carpet™. The product gained traction in the marketplace by 2003, the same year Interface received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Protection Award. Cool Carpet™ continues to receive recognition as a cutting edge approach to carbon neutral.
- How Cool Carpet™ Works
The Cool Carpet™ program works this way: we measure the carbon footprint of our carpet products, then we purchase offsets to balance this footprint, making the net carbon in the atmosphere zero. We determine their footprints using the
life cycle assessment (LCA) process. The LCA helps us look at every part of the carpet’s life cycle — from the raw materials harvested, to Interface manufacturing, through shipping and even vacuuming, and finally, the end of life recycling or disposal. All of which contribute to global warming, so all must be measured. We balance the amount of CO
2 in the footprint by buying and retiring carbon offsets, or credits from projects that avoid or sequester CO
2 to prevent it from entering the atmosphere.
- Program Verification
Interface recognizes that you shouldn’t just have to take our word for it on our progress. We have hired an independent organization, SGS, to check up and make sure we measured our product carbon footprint correctly and balanced it with the right amount of carbon offsets.
Click here for more information on the verification process.
- Interface Carbon Offsets
Interface recognizes the importance of balancing our products’ carbon footprints with reliable carbon offsets. The fact is, not all offsets are created equal. Interface uses strict criteria to select carbon offsets for its Cool Carpet program. When reviewing offsets, we make sure they are real, permanent, verifiable and additional carbon offsets certified to a consensus-based protocol. To identify credible carbon offsets, Interface uses a combination of verification requirements, standards and additional criteria that we define. Then, we purchase offsets that are verified to credible standards and we make sure they are permanently retired.