5家公司的“美好”生意

商业地毯公司Interface：渔网变地毯

    雷•安德森是总部位于亚特兰大的地毯制造商Interface的创办人。1994年，雷•安德森制定了一个宏伟的目标：到2020年，把公司的环境影响降为零。为此，Interface发明了可全部回收利用的尼龙地毯，其中一部分成分是从世界各地海滨回收的废旧鱼网。“废旧鱼网是个大问题，”可持续性事务总监雷蒙•阿拉蒂亚指出。“所以我们与一些非政府组织合作，清理菲律宾、印度和非洲的海滩”，把鱼网变为地毯。

    Interface的最新发明是：主要由蓖麻油构成的新型尼龙。蓖麻是印度的主要经济作物，“是农民的收入来源。它生长在贫瘠的土地上，因此不会和食品构成竞争关系，”阿拉蒂亚补充说。“我们已经进行了无数次尝试，而且可能有80%的尝试都以失败而告终了。但是失败是学习的一部分。”

Interface

    In 1994, Ray Anderson, founder of the Atlanta-based carpet-tile manufacturer, set an ambitious goal: reduce the company's environmental impact to zero by the year 2020. Toward that end, Interface invented a 100% recycled nylon carpet that is made partly of old fishing nets collected from the world's seashores. "Discarded fishing nets are a big problem," notes sustainability director Ramon Arratia. "So we are partnering with some non-governmental organizations, cleaning the beaches in the Philippines, India, and Africa" and turning the nets into carpeting.

    Interface's latest invention: A new type of nylon made mostly of castor oil, a major cash crop in India that is "a source of income for farmers, and it grows in land of poor quality, so it isn't competing with food," Arratia says, adding, "We have tried numerous things and maybe 80% of those have failed. But failure is part of learning."