On safe ground: Vorwerk Flooring

Can a carpet help to protect life? While this may sound melodramatic, the answer is in fact, yes. At least as far as turtles and other sea creatures are concerned, who become caught in left-behind fishing nets.

Greenpeace estimates that up to 25,000 nets are abandoned in our oceans every year, where they remain for the next 600 years before finally decomposing – a situation that grows increasingly critical year by year, as plastic waste continues to the accumulate, and not only for creatures of the sea.

For anyone wondering what that has to do with their comfortable carpeting, we have a strong connecting thread to offer. Or rather a yarn called ECONYL®, which the company Aquafil harvests from old fishing nets and other nylon waste products and uses as a raw material for new products, such as socks, swimwear and carpeting.

This is where things come full circle. This recycled yarn now plays an increasingly important role in the production of carpeting and carpet tiles from Vorwerk Flooring. A visit to the company’s production facilities in Hamelin, Germany reveals in every fiber that sustainability is not just a vague concept but is actually a core element of all its operations and processes – and has been since the 1990s.

As Vorwerk prepares the ground for a more sustainable future with environmentally sound economic and social production methods, their high-quality carpets and tiles go an holistic step further – straight into our work and living spaces, where they have a positive impact on our health and well-being.

This is a significant factor as it relates to sustainability. After all, we have grown much more aware in all areas of life – from environmental issues in general to our own personal responsibilities, from nutrition to interior furnishing, both at home and in the workplace.

Soft facts: The fact that carpeting provides for more effective heat storage and insulation as well as more physical and visual comfort than non-textile flooring is only one of its many advantages – particularly in the office, where we spend most of our time during the day. A soft floor covering also offers ergonomic benefits, even while standing, helping to reduce physical stress and strain.

Sound effects: Telephones ring, colleagues chat, footsteps echo through the room and printers clatter incessantly. Noise is impossible to eliminate in an open office, and it impairs our ability to concentrate and work effectively.

Carpeting demonstrably dampens the sound of moving feet, absorbs sound, and in so doing, provides added calm to the turbulent world of everyday life. In order to enhance these effects even further, Vorwerk has equipped its SL Sonic acoustic tiles with special secondary backings made of recycled PET, which also conserve resources.

The dust problem: Apart from noise levels, the problem of fine dust in interior spaces can not be overlooked. In the long term, it can contribute to asthma and allergies, and in fact, fine dust concentration can actually often exceed the limits that would be permissible for outdoor areas.

A study released by the Allergy and Asthma Association of Germany shows that contrary to exacerbating this problem, carpeting, in fact, binds dust more effectively than smooth flooring and holds it in place until it can be vacuumed away, thus contributing to cleaner indoor air.

For a healthy environment: In order to promote good health and eliminate health risks, a floor covering must be as free of harmful substances as possible. Carpets and carpet tiles from Vorwerk are produced without bitumen and PVC and emit less than 300g/m³ of volatile substances immediately following production. By comparison, a freshly printed newspaper emits 3,000g/m³.

With all five senses: Quite apart from all of these positive properties, carpeting is not only physically comfortable, it’s also attractive and pleasantly cozy. It offers the feel-good factor not only in how we experience it beneath our feet, it also impacts our emotions thanks to its aesthetic qualities.

Whether laid seamlessly or as a group of individual tiles, as a system for marking out separate areas or social distancing intervals, or expressing individual corporate identities, carpeting makes a statement and this is demonstrated in many instances, including the Spiegel Cafeteria designed by Verner Panton.

Gripping arguments: Carpeting earns additional plus points in terms of slip resistance when it comes to its positive impact on people and the environment. All things considered, in terms of sustainability and health, carpets can have a game-changing effect– and not just for turtles.

© Architonic