Company founder does well by ‘doing good’

Photo by Ben Dashwood
Ray Anderson lectures at Orleans Hall April 27.

By: John Bennett

Published: Friday, May 5, 2006

Ray Anderson made a confession at the beginning of his speech to a standing-room-only audience at Orleans Hall April 27.

“I was a plunderer of Earth, stealing the future of my grandchildren,” he said. Anderson, the founder and CEO of Interface and a self-described “radical industrialist,” then explained how the largest manufacturer of modular carpet in the world committed to the goal of having zero environmental impact by the year 2020 — no easy task for a  petroleum-intensive industry with manufacturing locations on four continents and offices in more than 100 countries. The North Georgia-based company manufactures carpet tiles, broadloom carpets and fabrics for commercial, institutional and residential applications.

Anderson said he had an epiphany in 1994, sparked by the book “The Ecology of Commerce” by Paul Hawken, and was motivated to reshape the company’s manufacturing processes and its culture to service the goal of sustainability. He described the effort as having seven components: eliminating waste, eliminating toxic emissions, using renewable energy sources, recovering materials for reuse, transporting people and materials more efficiently, educating “stakeholders” on the value of sustainability, and creating a new model for doing business that demonstrates the financial advantages of sustainable practices.

So far Interface has decreased its greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent, reduced dependence on petroleum-derived energy by 46 percent and reduced its water use by two-thirds. And, Anderson said, all this has been “incredibly good for business.”

 “We have exposed the false choice of economy or environment,” he said. “We are doing well in the marketplace, but not at the expense of the Earth. We are doing well by doing good.”

Another positive byproduct of Interface’s focus on lessening environmental impact is the effect on its workforce.

“Employees are galvanized by the higher purpose of sustainability.” Anderson said.

While his is the first company in its field to take up the mantle of sustainability, he said he hoped it would not be the last. Having proven that environmental sensitivity does not have to be economically draining, he has been challenging skeptics to make the business case for environmental destruction.

“Instead of talking about the cost of preventing global warming, talk about the cost of not preventing it,” he said.

Anderson stressed that the ideas that underpin Interface’s sustainability efforts can be traced back to historic conservationists such as Theodore Roosevelt.

“It’s not new, it’s not left-wing, it’s not wacko,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do.”

Anderson told students studying architecture and other design professions that they must embrace sustainability now and practice it consistently throughout their careers.

“Ethical design — that’s what sustainability is all about,” he said. “You must commit to it for life.”

The lecture was hosted by the Savannah Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council and sponsored by the Savannah College of Art and Design and Melaver Inc. For more information visit http://coastalgreen.org/.