subject: A Karastan Carpet Helps The Planet [print this page] When discussing proper business ethics, who would have ever thought to look towards a commercial carpeting company? But that's exactly where we're looking today: At the Karastan Carpet Makers.
Karastan prides themselves on being rug "innovators since 1928." According to their official website, "The moment the first Karastan came off the loom (2:02 pm, April 8th 1928), their name became synonymous with elegant machine-made rugs that rivaled their handmade counterparts."
But perhaps more impressive in our current times is not that the Karastan Carpet company leads the way in carpet innovation, but that they have taken steps to progressively improve the impact their manufacturing and product creation has on the environment.
One example is at their Georgia facility located in Sugar Valley. A recent law change prevented them from building an additional septic tank when their first approached its limit. There were plenty of solutions to this problem, many of which were less-than eco-friendly. However, the Karastan Carpet company took a somewhat radical approach by building an aerobic treatment unit. Using microbes, this aerobic treatment unit broke down the wastewater and helped create a pair of wetland fields. By allowing the wastewater to flow through it, the phosphorous, nitrogen, and several other nutrients were able to filter out, and by the time the water reached the polishing field it was faultless.
The innovation that the Karastan Carpet company has used with their carpet cores is also something to be commended. A high majority of carpet companies will use cardboard to create these carpet cores; Karastan uses an innovative durable plastic.
Not only does this plastic help to preserve the planets natural resources (it's made from a mixture of carpet edge trim, stretch film from shrink-wrapping, soft drink bottle caps, and a plethora of other items that typically find their way into the garbage dump), it lasts over three times as long as the traditional cardboard cores. Not to mention, the used durable plastic carpet cores can be grounded up afterwards and turned into yep, you guessed it, more carpet cores.
On their official website, the Karastan Carpet Company bluntly puts a slogan that all good business men and women swear by: that "finding better ways of doing things makes good business sense." But the changes and alterations the Karastan Carpet company has made, and continues to make, seem to go above and beyond simply being good business. We commend Karastan, and all of their products, for it is rare to see a company do the right thing, rather than just the financially right thing.by: Mark Etinger
