GeoHay: Ready to Save the Day With Carpet - Werner Braun

Werner Braun on GeoHay, made from 100% recycled carpet fibers: In Place and Ready to Save the Day

CRI's Werner Braun’s latest article for Dalton, Georgia newspaper, the Daily Citizen, tells the incredible story of how a product that was invented as an environmentally-friendly way to stop erosion along interstate construction sites is being put to use in one Florida county as a barrier that will stop oil from the BP spill from spoiling the beach. The article is titled "GeoHay tries to save the day."

The product is called GeoHay and its manufacturers call it a “barrier filtration product”. It is made from 100 percent recycled carpet fibers, such as nylon, polyester and polypropylene. GeoHay is non-biodegradable, strong and durable, and can be used over and over again. Unlike natural hay bales, GeoHay will not fall apart or decompose with use. Sounds great to me.

Designed to control erosion, GeoHay’s recycled carpet fibers allow water to flow through, while trapping suspended sediments such as oil. More than 2,000 feet of retention fences and oblong bales of GeoHay now line Topsail Hill Preserve State Park Beach in Walton County, Florida (see related blog post Recycled Carpet Protects Florida Coast From Oil).

In addition to GeoHay, used carpet fibers can be turned into construction materials, coal substitutes, plastics and new carpet. The article lists some examples:

“NyconG is a reinforcing fiber for concrete and other construction materials. It is made from 100 percent recycled carpet and carpet backing. The manufacturer promises the material lowers production costs and may be eligible for tax credits and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) credit savings.

KeLa Energy uses recycled coal waste and used carpet fibers to create an alternative energy source that burns cleaner, hotter and more efficiently than coal.

Los Angeles Fiber and several other companies make new carpet from your old carpet. Other companies are making a variety of plastics, including bottles and car parts, from used carpet fibers.

Finally, other options for reusing before recycling your carpet include:

• Cover compost heaps and worm compost bins to trap heat and moisture.

• Cover a field of weeds with carpet. Within weeks it will all be dead and you can replant with new sod or other plants.

• Find a new home for the carpet on Craigslist or FreeCycle.

• Check with your local animal shelter. It may want the used carpet patches for its cat cages.

• Put it in a greenhouse to keep plants off the cold floor.

No matter what, don’t throw away old carpet. Even if it doesn’t stop the oil spill, it can certainly be put to good use.”

Great information. Thanks, Werner!

~Bethany