Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Housing maintenance took advantage of a student-free Oliver Hall during spring break to install environmentally-friendly carpet.
The carpet was produced by Interface, a company dedicated to sustainable business practices.
Ray Anderson, founder of Interface, pledged in 1995 that Interface would become the world’s first entirely sustainable company by 2020. He pledged to ban the use of petroleum in Interface carpet manufacturing and has developed carpet fibers that can be more easily recycled.
Anderson will speak about sustainability tonight at 7:30 in Woodruff Auditorium.
Lorraine Malone, coordinator of Housing Maintenance, said the eco-friendly Interface carpet had graced the floors of buildings such as Oliver and GSP-Corbin Halls for at least three years.
Sustainable carpet at the entrance of Oliver Hall, shot today, March 25, 2008, to go with Mary Sorrick's story slugged "sustain".
“It’s great for us,” Malone said. “From the cleanability to the waste and cost factors.”
One factor that makes the carpet less wasteful, Malone said, is the ease with which it can be replaced. The carpet is installed as tiles that range in size from 20 square inches to 24 square inches. The removable tiles allow spills and stains in residence halls to be cleaned by replacing individual carpet pieces rather than recarpeting an entire room.
Malone also said waste associated with carpet had been abated by a state-initiated carpet-recycling program introduced last year. The program ensures that carpet from KU buildings get recycled and reused, instead of ending up in landfills.
Eco-friendly cleaning products used by Custodial Services in the Kansas Union also support sustainability on campus.
Kirby Ostrander, custodial supervisor at the Kansas Union, said he introduced sustainable products to Custodial Services’ cleaner collection after attending a green cleaning seminar six years ago.
One of the sustainable cleaners, called H2Orange2, replaced many of the aerosols and chemical-laden cleaners that KU custodians had been using. H2Orange2, a formulation of orange oil and hydrogen peroxide, does not contain the harmful compounds such as chlorine and bleach found in many cleaning products.
Aside from carpet and cleaning products, the University has supported sustainability through the use of electric vehicles.
John Louis, assistant vice provost for Information Technology, said Information Technology was one of the first departments on campus to begin using the golf-cart-sized electric vehicles.
Louis said his department bought two electric cars last year to shuttle computer technicians around campus.
The KU Athletics Department and KU Public Safety Office also have electric vehicles, Louis said.
Developments such as electric cars and sustainable carpet show the increased emphasis placed on energy conservation by many KU departments.
Studie Red Corn, Shawnee senior and member of the student environmental advisory board, said the University had made vast improvements in terms of sustainability.
“We’re getting to a tipping point,” he said. “I feel like things are picking up, and there’s a whole lot getting ready to happen.”
—Edited by Russell Davies
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