Local carpet store offers customers the chance to go green with their old carpets

For people who like to recycle, the idea of replacing their carpeting in their home only to have the old remnants tossed into the landfill is sometimes unbearable. Thankfully, thanks to Carpet Specialists Carpet One in Ishpeming, there is a new option available now.

Carpet Specialists Carpet One is partnering with Carpet Landfill Elimination and Recycling--simply known as CLEAR--of Milwaukee to recycle carpeting that is being discarded by Upper peninsula residents.

"We are very excited to help preserve our environment by keeping old carpeting out of U.P. landfills," says Scott Patrick, owner of Carpet Specialists Carpet One. He adds that each year approximately 1.8 million tons of carpeting gets sent to landfills where it remains. Carpet, like old tires, is not biodegradable.

There has been an effort to reduce the amount of carpeting that is being sent to the landfill, but it's been a struggle. Some states, like California, have proposed laws to mandate old carpeting be recycled. According to Patrick, no such mandate has been proposed in Michigan; instead local businesses, like Carpet Specialists Carpet One, have stepped up to keep carpeting out of landfills through voluntary recycling initiatives.

Carpet Specialists Carpet One is one of the first Upper Peninsula to recycle used carpeting with CLEAR. CLEAR will reprocess the discarded carpeting turning into plastic pellets, which will made into anything from car dashboards to and picnic tables.

Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Scott Patrick, Carpet Specialists Carpet One
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