For a petro-intensive industrial company (for both energy and materials), “Off Oil” is a big deal and a monumental undertaking. It means severing the umbilical cord to the earth for virgin petroleum, and we have accepted that challenge at Interface. At the same time “Off Oil” is also a proxy for an even more ambitious and challenging commitment that we have made under the umbrella of “Mission Zero”; that is, to get off ALL fossil fuel-derived energy (coal) and materials (natural gas) by 2020. That means using renewable energy, and closed loop, recycled petro-derived or naturally renewable materials. And beyond those commitments, we intend to eliminate any other negative environmental impacts our operations and products may still have, as we strive for zero environmental footprint. Today, after 15 1/2 years of such striving, we are nearly two-thirds of the way there with ten and a half years to go. We’d be pleased to meet you at the top of Mount Sustainability in 2020. We have it on good authority that there’s plenty of room at the top for zero footprints.

Ray Anderson