torley manor

Based on a suggestion from a pal, I looked into the FLOR company — they make modular carpeting, and it was vaguely remembered by said pal that they have recycled options. The website is remarkably uninformative so I sent away for the catalog to get a better sense of their policies.

It’s never explicitly stated that any of the carpets are made with recycled materials, they do have an environmental responsibility program that they call “Mission Zero (TM)” — which aims to “eliminate any negative impact our family of companies may have on the environment by 2020.”

Well, you’ve got a long way to go if all but three of your carpet options are made of nylon, polyester, or acrylic. (The other options are wool, corn-derived fiber, and sisal.)

I have been thinking so much lately about what my priorities are, in terms of being a responsible consumer. It’s been very much in the front of my mind lately, as I recently bought a new pair of shoes and spent what felt like forever trying to choose a product that was non-leather, non-vinyl, comfortable enough to withstand the amount of walking and standing I do, at least not totally hideously ugly, and made with decent labor practices. So, especially lately, I try to pay a lot of attention to (as Rick Sebak might say) What Things are Made Of And Where They Come From.

The manufacturing process for nylon creates a particular greenhouse gas far worse (can you quantify “worse” in this case?) than carbon dioxide. HOLY SHIT. And since I just officially became a climate change alarmist after watching a Nova program on PBS, I can’t fathom choosing to buy something with such a huge impact.

But the thing is . . . . . . . . . it’s so hard to accurately measure impact, for someone who is just a regular consumer. It’s not like your average consumer (and I include myself in that category) has ready access and time and energy to look into life cycle impacts for all the materials in the products they’re looking to buy, especially when they’re not all listed. How do you begin to tabulate any of that information about the glue that holds the top and bottom of your shoes together?

So back to the FLOR modular carpet tiles and other sustainable or just less-poisonous flooring options. The bottom line here is that they cost a LOT more, pretty much across the board, than do non-sustainable and more-poisonous options.

I find myself thinking more and more that, despite my decision to eat mostly vegan, maybe some animal products are more sustainable. Would I buy three pairs of canvas shoes in the span of time it would take one pair of leather shoes to wear out? But then I start to think again about all the reasons I want to remove myself from the animal processing industry, about working conditions for slaughterhouse employees.

And then I start to think about how many many many options we have to choose from, and how none of them feel very good.