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Carpeting California in Green

If you took all the carpet sent to landfills in the United States each year and laid it flat, it would cover an area as big as New York City.

That’s 2.4 million tons of carpet, and 840,000 tons of it comes from California alone. That’s why the state of California, which purchases 12 million square feet of new carpet each year – enough to cover 47 miles of four-lane freeway – is setting new standards for purchasing more environmentally friendly floor coverings.

Under the “California Gold Sustainable Carpet Standard,” which takes effect September 1, companies that sell broadloom carpet to the state of California must promise to use at least 10 percent recycled fibers, reduce volatile organic compounds (the smelly chemicals in carpets that give some people headaches and harm indoor air quality) and increase the amount of used carpet they take back for recycling.

At least a dozen other states are watching to see how the program works in California, as state governments are increasingly more open to “going green.” Government officials say they don’t expect to spend any more than the $26 million they’re already spending on new carpeting each year and industry leaders confirm that many of these changes are taking place industry-wide already in response to consumer demand.

Indoor carpeting is a major contributor to poor indoor air quality because of emissions from the toxic glues and chemicals often used in the carpets themselves or in adhesives used to install them. Manufacturing carpet uses enormous amounts of water and adds to pollution through harmful emissions as well as through the toxic dyes used to color carpet fibers. Carpets made using natural fibers and without toxic adhesives or dyes are becoming increasingly available.

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For more information on the environmental impacts of carpet use and production, and how carpets affect indoor air quality, please download the pdf.

To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org