Interface's Ray Anderson Inspires a Generation

Inspiring a generation by Werner Braun

In his August 26, 2011 column titled "Inspiring a generation" for the Dalton Daily Citizen, Carpet and Rug Institute president Werner Braun remembers Ray Anderson, chairman and founder of Interface, a respected manufacturer of commercial carpet, and CRI member company. Mr. Anderson died of cancer in August, 2011 in Atlanta.

In the article, Mr. Braun mentions the first time he ever met Ray Anderson.

“It was in the early 1990s, when then-President Bill Clinton put together the President’s Council on Sustainable Development and Ray was a part of this.

And from that day forward I was impressed with how he understood and expressed his view that sustainability isn’t a place, but a vision, and that you must have a process in place in order to be able to grow.

Interface began in 1973 making modular carpet for businesses and residents, and education, health care, retail, hospitality and government facilities. By the early 1990s, Interface was a booming company located in LaGrange.

But in 1994, the 21-year-old company had a dramatic wake-up call, one that Anderson describes as “a spear in the chest”: Interface needed to head in a different direction, and its commitment to Mission Zero began.

On its website, Mission Zero is described as a “shared mission (to) be the first company that, by its deeds, shows the entire world what sustainability is in all its dimensions: people, process, product, place and profits — and in doing so, become restorative through the power of influence.”

Interface’s “promise” is to eliminate any negative impact Interface has on the environment by 2020. To date, it has reduced energy use per unit by 43 percent, greenhouse gases have been reduced by 44 percent, and water use per unit is down 80 percent. Interface also uses 30 percent renewable energy, the amount of waste sent to landfills is down 77 percent, and recycled/bio-based raw materials are used 36 percent.

Mr. Anderson inspired a generation to rethink their companies’ missions by striving for more than the everyday norm. Ray Anderson will be remembered as the man who challenged us all to think outside the box on how to “pay back” and not “take away” from the environment.”

Thank you, Werner.

~Bethany