Left and below: Employees of Floor Craze, LLC of Guilford Installing Mercy Center's new recycled fiber carpet and carpet pad

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MERCY CENTER DECORATES WITH “GREEN” CARPET

Green Team formed to help create a more sustainable conference center

MADISON, Conn., JANUARY 3, 2008 – As part of its efforts to become more sustainable, Mercy Center, a conference and retreat center for human development in Madison, recently installed ‘eco’ carpet.  Usually between Christmas and New Years is a slow time for all of us, however, at Mercy Center, it was bustling with a number of projects including painting walls and ceilings, redecorating entire rooms and installing new carpet. 

While Mercy Center has switched to only ‘low VOC’ paints, which give off less fumes of volatile organic compounds which contribute to global warming, they’ve made  huge strides by purchasing a more sustainable carpet.  The new ‘eco’ carpet and carpet padding was installed in the Mary Daly RSM art gallery, Founders auditorium foyer, hallways outside some of the private rooms and the flooring in Dempsey auditorium; an estimated 5580 square feet.

“It definitely cost more to purchase the eco carpet then regular carpet,” stated Jim Emswiler, Mercy Center executive director.  “However, to make a commitment to the environment, we need to recognize the costs associated with not buying more sustainable products.  There are environmental costs in the production and disposal of every product we buy.  We are making conscious choices for the organization through our purchasing practices to lessen those impacts.” 

Shaw Industries, Inc. in Georgia, has created this unique fiber; Anso nylon is made from old carpet fibers and can be made into new carpet fiber again and again.  According to Shaw Industries, Anso nylon is a ‘Type 6’ nylon, which is the only post-consumer fiber capable of being recycled back into carpet fiber over and over again. 

“None of these decisions have been easy for the organization,” explained George Warner, Mercy Center director of operations.  “In addition to the expense, we are all learning new ways of doing things.  We’re learning to examine different aspects of a product before we make a purchase.  As with the carpet, we not only have carpet with recycled-content, but we can also send it back to be recycled when it’s no longer serving its purpose.”

The Center has also started printing all its brochures and catalogs on recycled paper using soy inks, switching to a more ecologically safe ice melt for its driveways, walkways and parking lot and deciding to stop purchasing and selling bottled water.  To aid in these efforts, a “Green Team” was recently formed at Mercy Center, a committee composed of different departments that is working to identify areas in the organization that could be more ‘green’. 

“Our Green Team decided its first project would be to examine our cleaning products,” explained Sherill Baldwin, Mercy Center ecology director, “I had expected us to dig further into our office supplies, which is usually where people want to start.  However, the team felt between issues of health for our employees, air quality for our visitors and overall need to purchase more ecologically sound products, we should begin by examining cleaning products we currently use and begin to identify safer products that provide the same quality.”

To learn more about ecology projects at the Center, check out their new website at www.mercybythesea.org.

Mercy Center at Madison, a sponsored work of the Sisters of Mercy, is a conference and spiritual retreat center for human development offering a hospitality that reveres the value and uniqueness of each person. Mercy Center hosts and develops programs that enhance the quality of life in a changing world. For more information, visit www.mercybythesea.org.