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GREEN WITH EMMY:
MOHAWK EVERSTRAND™ CARPET GETS/GIVES
STAR TREATMENT AT AWARDS SHOW
Recycled Fiber Highlighted During the Broadcast
DALTON (October 18, 2007)—One of the stars of the 59th Annual Emmy Awards didn’t arrive on the red carpet.
It was the carpet.
Mohawk’s
EverStrand
™
carpet made from recycled soft
drink bottles was selected as the flooring for the Emmy awards ceremony.
The show aired on FOX on September 16.
The producers
chose Mohawk EverStrand
as part of their “Green with
Emmy” effort to stage an environmentally sound production. The
Emmys used a variety of products and practices to show what can be done
to protect and improve the environment. For the first time ever,
the Emmys were carbon neutral.
Emmy production company
AEG Ehrlich Ventures purchased Mohawk EverStrand
carpet in several shades of blue for the entire interior of the Shrine
Auditorium in Los Angeles, creating a stunning showcase for television’s
best. Mohawk carpet was also used for the press room and other
areas of the facility.
According to Ron Basile of AEG Ehrlich Ventures, the carpet “was beautiful and performed beautifully.”
Mohawk’s EverStrand fiber
is a staple polyester produced entirely from recycled soft drink
bottles. Mohawk is the largest recycler of soft drink bottles in
the country. One out of every four bottles recycled in North
America becomes Mohawk carpet. Mohawk recycles more than three
billion bottles every year.
Because the US Food & Drug
Administration requires top quality PET (polyethylene terephthalate) for
beverage bottles, the recycled product offers superior performance
characteristics over many fibers in in making other brands of carpet
yarns. On average, 30 plastic bottles are recycled to make one
square yard of Mohawk EverStrand
carpet.
The carpet’s recycled
story didn’t go unnoticed. During the broadcast, announcers
highlighted Mohawk EverStrand
and its environmental benefits to an audience of more than 13 million
viewers. After the ceremony, the carpet was again “recycled”—it
was donated to various groups and individuals for ongoing use.
A Carefully Orchestrated Environmental Effort
The Green with Emmy
Campaign encompasses all major Television Academy and Fox events.
This includes the Primetime Emmy nominations announcement ceremony, the
59th Primetime Emmys arrivals and telecast, the Creative Arts Emmys, the
Governors balls, and the Fox Primetime Emmy Awards after-party. The goal
of the effort is to reduce the carbon footprint created by the
production.
In addition to Mohawk’s EverStrand carpet,
The Shrine Auditorium used clean “Green Power” generated from 100%
renewable resources from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
The stage sets were reusable rentals. Biofuel generators, which
use organic oils such as soybean or canola, provided backup during the
production of the show. Hybrid and Flexfuel vehicles transported talent
to the Awards. Lighting on and off stage was reduced by 15
percent.
Glass, plastic, metal and paper recycling bins were located throughout
the Awards site. All paper used for the event had recycled
content. Instead of sending DVD copies of nominees to voters, Academy
members were encouraged to view nominations online to reduce waste.
Mohawk’s own ongoing environmental effort, Mohawk Greenworks, is an umbrella program that places all green projects under a single platform for management and information. Mohawk Greenworks communicates the effort that goes into the company’s scores of environmental practices. Mohawk Greenworks covers the spectrum of environmental practices—the “5 Rs”—recycle, renew, reuse, recover, and reduce.
Mohawk’s environmental efforts have been cited by government agencies as a model for other industries to follow. Mohawk is the largest recycler in the flooring industry. It currently diverts more than three billion pounds of pre- and post-consumer waste from landfills every year. More than 500 Mohawk products—carpet, carpet tiles, cushion, laminates, and ceramic tile—contain recycled materials. These materials come from manufacturing, discarded tires, roofing, old wood furniture, soft drink bottles, and various other sources.
To learn more, visit www.greenworksblog.com.
# # #
Mohawk is a leading supplier of flooring for both residential and commercial applications. Mohawk offers a complete selection of broadloom carpet, ceramic tile, laminate, wood, stone, vinyl, rugs and other home products. These products are marketed under the premier brands in the industry, which include Mohawk, Karastan, Ralph Lauren, Lees, Bigelow, Dal-Tile, American Olean and Quick-Step. Mohawk's unique merchandising and marketing assist our customers in creating the consumers' dream. Mohawk provides a premium level of service with its own trucking fleet and over 250 local distribution locations.
