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Feb 10, 2009

"The Earth was small, light blue, and so touchingly alone, our home that must be defended like a holy relic. The Earth was absolutely round. I believe I never knew what the word round meant until I saw Earth from space." --Aleksei Leonov

A Carpet Company's Transformation

As Ray Anderson was preparing to give a speech at Interface, the billion dollar carpet company he founded, he had a stark realization."I was running a company that was plundering the earth," he recalls. While Interface fully complied with the law, Ray knew that wasn't enough. So he challenged his employees to find ways to turn it all around, and forestalled objections from his own stockholders. "He bet his entire company," remembers one colleague. And the bet paid off. Today, Interface has cut fossil fuels by 45%, reduced water usage by 49% and slowed its landfill contribution by 80%. Plans are underway for it to be a fully "restorative enterprise" by 2020. Oh, and along the way? Interface has saved over $336 million.