What is your company doing for the environment? This was the question that changed Ray C. Anderson’s life in 1994, in what he calls his “spear in the chest” epiphany. He’d read Paul Hawken’s book “The Ecology of Commerce” and thought about the damaging effect his business could have on the environment. Ray wrote his own book, “Mid-Course Correction,” to tell the world about what he’d realized. It was the beginning of his journey to show that sustainability was not only the right thing to do, but also a smart business move.
Nearly 30 years later, his legacy has done quite a bit for the environment. First is Interface, the company he founded, which is the world’s largest producer of modular commercial floor coverings. It is more than halfway towards his vision of “Mission Zero™”, which is the company’s promise to eliminate any negative impact Interface has on the environment through redesign of processes and products, the pioneering of new technologies and efforts to reduce or eliminate waste and harmful emissions while increasing the use of renewable materials and sources of energy.
