Green Flooring Options & Initiatives

The following green products and procedures at America’s Floor Source illustrate our company’s commitment to environmentally sustainable practices.

Green Flooring Options

P.E.T Polyester Carpet

P.E.T Polyester Carpet is manufactured using recycled plastic bottles made with polyethylene terephthalate, also known as PET.

Mohawk alone reclaims 3 billion plastic bottles each year to manufacture its PET polyester carpets. The bottles are ground into tiny pieces and melted into chips which are then converted into the fibers used to make its EverStrand carpets. Over 1 billion pounds of plastic bottles have been kept out of landfills since 1999 thanks to this recycling effort, and about 35% of carpet in the US today contains recycled plastic.

Shaw’s Cleartouch carpet is also a BCF P.E.T carpet that contains recycled content. The product is composed of a continuous filament fiber that offers the attributes of polyester plus excellent appearance retention, exceptional softness, and long-term wear.

Beaulieu’s GreenSMART is a technologically advanced process of recycling soft drink and water bottles into carpet. GreenSMART PET fibers are inherently resistant to stains, mildew, and abrasion. This stain resistance is actually part of the fiber and is also resistant to the wear that comes from accumulated soils. This manufacturing process reduced mill manufacturing energy usage by fifty percent, and Beaulieu recovers 1.6 million plastic bottles each year to produce its GreenSMART PET products.

Recycled Nylon

Used carpet that is made with nylon 6 fibers can be recycled into particles which are remanufactured into brand new nylon carpet. This recycling process, which can be repeated numerous times, prevents these nylon carpets from ever reaching landfills.

Shaw’s Evergreen facility is a nylon recycling operation based in Augusta, GA. Evergreen recycles both commercial and residential grade type 6 nylon products, and in 2009 alone, the facility recycled over 100 million pounds of nylon carpet. Even the co-product produced during the manufacturing process is used to power boilers at a partner company in Cartersville, GA. Any remaining mineral matter then goes into Shaw’s EcoWorx carpet tile backing. Shaw’s Anso Nylon is made up of 25% post-consumer recycled content, and all of Shaw’s Evertouch carpet is made from type 6 nylon fibers.

Sorona fibers

One of the primary ingredients in Mohawk’s Smartstrand carpet is made from corn sugar, a renewable resource. The Sorona production process requires 30% less energy than it would to produce the same amount of nylon. Every seven yards of Smartstrand carpet made with the Sorona polymer results in an energy and resource savings equivalent to one gallon of gasoline.

Wool Carpet

Wool carpet is considered a “green” product because it only takes 5 years to biodegrade, 100 years less than the average synthetic carpet.

America’s Floor Source carries several brands of wool carpet, including Stanton, J.Mish, Design Materials, and Fabrica.

Cork Flooring

Cork is harvested from the bark of the cork oak tree every seven to fifteen years when it naturally starts to split. Harvesting doesn’t cause any damage to the tree or the surrounding habitat. The bark regenerates every 10 years, and some cork trees are known to still produce bark at the age of 200 years. Cork can also be produced from the waste product of cork wine stoppers.

America’s Floor Source carries several brands of cork flooring, including APC Cork and US Floors.

Bamboo Flooring

Bamboo is one of the planet's fastest growing plants and can be harvested every three to six years, offering 25 times the harvest yield of hardwood. By harvesting bamboo instead of hardwood, over-harvesting of forests is reduced, helping to protect our planet's climate and environment. In addition, the type of bamboo used for flooring is not the kind consumed by pandas, so these creatures are not affected by bamboo harvesting.

America’s Floor Source carries several brands of bamboo flooring, including Teragren, Bella Cera, and Style.

Recycled Rubber Flooring

Recycled rubber floors are made from rubber tires, and this recycling process significantly reduces landfill and energy usage.

America’s Floor Source carries rubber flooring from American Essentials, Johnsonite, R.C. Musson, and Roppe.

Green Certifications and Procedures

Green Label Certification

The Carpet and Rug institute created the Green Label program in 1992. The purpose of the program is to improve indoor air quality by identifying carpets, adhesives, and cushion with very low emissions of VOCs (volatile organic compounds). The Green Label plus logo is proof that the product has been tested and certified by an independent laboratory and has met stringent criteria for low emissions.

All Shaw, Beaulieu, and Mohawk indoor carpet products have been tested and are certified by the Green Label or Green Label Plus Indoor Air Quality Program.

LEED Certification

The LEED Green Building Rating System provides a set of standards for environmentally sustainable building construction. The materials and resources used in construction count towards a building’s LEED rating, and carpet is included in this category. The higher the recycled post consumer content in a carpet (10% or higher), the more LEED points the building can receive. In addition, LEED points can be earned for green label carpet and cushion products and for installing carpet in a location within 500 miles of its manufacturer’s plant. Finally, LEED points can be earned for recycling used carpets if at least 50% of the carpet materials are diverted to the manufacturing process.

EPA Lead-Safe Certification

Renovation activities (sanding, cutting, demolition, etc.) can create hazardous lead dust and chips by disturbing lead-based paint, which can be harmful to adults and children. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created the Lead Safe certification program to protect against lead contamination. America’s Floor Source is EPA Lead-Safe certified to conduct renovation, repair, and painting activities in target housing and child-occupied facilities. Our installers do everything they can to contain their work areas, minimize dust, and clean up their job sites thoroughly to minimize lead dust.

AFS Carpet & Pad Recycling Program

America’s Floor Source works with CLEAR (Carpet Landfill Elimination and Recycling) to manage the disposal of our carpet and cushion. All carpet and pad that our installers remove during a job is diverted from landfills and instead sent to a carpet recycling facility. Products made from recycled carpet products include carpet, cushion, automobile components, parking stops, picnic tables, and parking benches, just to name a few. This helps to reduce the 5 billion pounds of carpet that are sent to landfills every year.

AFS Recycling and Energy Saving Commitment

Every employee at America’s Floor Source understands the importance of recycling and saving energy. We recycle paper products, cardboard, plastics, and metal, and every employee has his or her own personal recycling bin. We also keep our break room stocked with dishes and silverware to minimize our usage of paper and plastic products. In addition, we have energy saving mechanisms on our printers and fax machines to minimize energy consumption when they are not in use.

If you'd like to learn more about our green flooring options and initiatives, give us a call at 877-237-2317 to speak with one of our knowledgeable sales representatives or send us an inquiry via our contact us form.