Cradle to Cradle

While most of us think of environmentally friendly area rugs as being made of wool, sisal or bamboo did you know that one of our largest manufacturers is turning nylon into an environmentally responsible fiber? Sure, nylon rugs start out with the fiber coming from oil, but what if you could make a rug that allows you to keep using that fiber over and over again and not ending up in a landfill?

Most of us are familiar with the Cradle to Grave manufacturing process. Raw materials are taken from the earth, made into a product that we use, and when we are done using it these products end up in a landfill. This process has given us over flowing landfills and a wasteful use of our natural resources. But many of the rugs made by Shaw (not to mention many of their broadloom carpet products) have a different concept, the concept of Cradle to Cradle; making these synthetic products and rugs as environmentally friendly as their natural cousins. Shaw starts out with a kind of nylon called Type 6 nylon, fabricates carpet and area rugs, sell them to us, we sell them to you, you use them, and here is where the difference starts; instead of you throwing your area rug into the trash when you are done, you can bring it to one of hundreds of collection centers across the country and your old area rug will be recycled back into raw materials and made into another area rug (or carpet) - Shaw’s post-consumer recycling system has kept over 300 million pounds of old carpet and rugs out of landfills AND given them the building blocks to create brand new rugs and carpets. Amazing I say!

So, how do you find one of these amazing rugs? Just check out Rugs to My Door’s collection of Shaw rugs. Any rug made of nylon from Shaw is made from Anso Evergreen Nylon and is made to be recycled and kept out of a landfill. Even better some of their most popular area rug collections are made from this wonderful fiber. Check out the Kathy Ireland rug collections for great style, great colors and a great environment.

Just remember the only rug manufacturer with recyclable nylon is Shaw, so if you want a rug that can work in this program make sure it is a Shaw rug. Hopefully, area rug manufacturers will begin to follow and when they do you know you can count on us to bring these rugs to you.

If you would like to know more about recycling your area rug drop me a line and I will find you the nearest drop off point and you can keep the Cradle to Cradle program going and do your part to create a better world for you and your family.