Chicago—Nearly 11,000 pounds of carpet were discarded from showrooms at TheMART in Chicago since NeoCon 2017. Instead of taking the used carpet to landfills, carpet manufacturers and local non-profit organizations have collaborated to repurpose the carpet for social good.
Designs for Dignity, one of the nonprofit collaborators, will use the carpet to renovate the workspaces of other Illinois nonprofits. This partnership is viewed as a win-win-win as carpet tile is diverted from landfills to beneficial reuse; nonprofit organizations gain effective workspaces to nurture growth and success of their missions; and renovation cost is minimized by utilizing in-kind donations and volunteer design and construction support, allowing nonprofit organizations to direct more resources to achieving their mission.
“The carpet industry continually seeks solutions to keep carpet out of landfills,” said Robert Peoples, executive director of the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE). “Repurposing used carpet generated from renovations for NeoCon is just one example of the carpet industry’s commitment to sustainability.”
Participating carpet manufacturers include Atlas Carpet Mills, Bentley Mills, Interface, J+J Flooring Group, Milliken & Co., Mohawk Group, Shaw Industries Group and Tandus Centiva.
More than 21,000 square yards of carpet tile from showrooms at TheMART Chicago have been donated to non-profits since 2010.