Cool CO₂mmute^™

Several Interface facilities have initiated voluntary programs to offset the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions associated with employee commutes, to and from work.  The Cool Co₂mmute program allows associates to purchase trees to be planted by American Forests, to offset the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the fuel they consume. The program was first launched in 2002. InterfaceFLOR - USA adopted the program in 2003, and the corporate office initiated their program in 2004. The respective business units share half of the cost with their associates bringing the average cost for the associate to less than $12.00 per year. Some employees have also elected to offset mileage for their spouses and other family members. More than 3,400 trees have been planted through the Cool Co₂mmute program since 2002.

In 2006, Interface’s trees will be planted through American Forests’ Global ReLeaf program in The Nature Conservancy's Emiquon Preserve in Illinois. Located along the Illinois River south of Peoria, Emiquon represents the largest private conservation purchase in the history of the state. For sheer biological diversity and cultural importance, Emiquon’s pre-European-settlement landscape of backwater lakes, wetlands and forests was virtually unmatched in the Midwest. During much of the turn of the last century, farmers’ row crops replaced Emiquon’s native vegetation and lakes. American Forests the Nature Conservancy of Illinois plan to begin restoration of this site planting 160,000 quality bottomland hardwoods in 2006 and reintroduce over ten different hardwood species once found on the Illinois River floodplain including: green ash, white ash, pin oak, northern pecan, black walnut, sycamore, river birch and swamp white oak.