Green Monday: magic carpet ride!

Okay, how cool is this? I'm sitting in the break room at work this morning, drinking coffee and squinting at the clock. It says 5:15, which seems like a terrible time to be awake, but at least the news on T.V is positive and interesting for a change.

Between the weather report (sunny and pleasant) and a peek at launch preparations for Shuttle Endeavor, I heard the phrase, "Go green!"

It got my attention.

There's apparently a new business in town that recycles old carpet! Even the news anchor sounded enthusiastic. I was too bleary-eared to get exact quotes, but here's some info I found online.

According to Carpet America Recovery Effort, around five billion pounds of old carpet went to landfills in 2003. CARE was established to help reduce those numbers and put those old carpets to good use.

Items including composite lumber, car parts, shingles and even railroad ties can be and are being made with recycled carpet. CARE has set a target goal of 40% diversion by 2012. In plain terms, this means they want to recycle around 2.8 billion pounds of carpet per year.

There is a bit of a catch to this: carpet recycling is not free. You can expect to pay a few cents per pound (more in some places) of carpet recycled. This fee helps cover haul-away service, plus the process of recycling itself.

If you're thinking about ditching that 30-year-old orange shag carpet (and who isn't?), consider teaming up with a carpet recycling service. You can do one good deed for the environment and another for your eyes.