Ray Anderson's Alliance for Sustainability Award

In 2006 Ray Anderson was honored with a sustainability award by the Alliance for Sustainability. The Sustainability Awards were bestowed on Ray based on an extensive public nomination process that recognizes both exemplary leaders that have made significant contributions to sustainability and those that have helped to create a world that is ecologically sound, economically viable, socially just and humane.

The Alliance for Sustainability was founded in 1983 and has been one of the original proponents of sustainability. Its mission is to bring about personal, organizational and planetary sustainability. The Alliance for Sustainabiity has partnered with diverse businesses and offers sustainability training.

Following a public nomination process, 52 nominees were evaluated by a distinguished advisory committee based on factors ranging from exemplary leadership to significant contributions to sustainability. The 2006 recipients included Ray Anderson, chairman and founder of Interface, Inc.

“Both Alisa Gravitz (another Sustainability Award winner) and Ray Anderson have consistently proven that sustainable businesses can profit while benefiting people and the planet – the new triple bottom line,” said Terry Gips, Alliance for Sustainability President and Event Co-Chair. “They stand as true heroes...whose bold, yet compassionate leadership has inspired countless people and brought about fundamental changes in their institutions and industries as well as public policy,” Gips added.

Ray Anderson was recognized for his revolutionary efforts in turning a primarily petroleum-based company into an internationally recognized, billion dollar sustainability leader, demonstrating that a company can “do well by doing good” by creating “the next industrial revolution.” At the same time, he has worked tirelessly to encourage countless business, government and other audiences to make a commitment to sustainability.

Event Co-Chair Dawn Erlandson noted, “Under Anderson’s leadership, Interface has reduced its environmental footprint by more than 40%, cut total carbon dioxide emissions by 56%, decreased total energy consumption required to manufacture carpet by 43%, eliminated over $300 million in waste since 1995 and been named several times as one of the Fortune “100 Best Companies to Work For.”

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Related Posts
The Life of Sustainability Pioneer Ray Anderson
Ray Anderson Time Magazine's Hero of the Environment
The Washington Post Pays Tribute to Ray Anderson The Greenest CEO in America
Summary of Accolades Received by Ray Anderson
Ray Anderson's Interface Inc. Amongst the "Best Corporate Citizens"
Ray Anderson's Sustainable Legacy: Interface, Inc Part One
Ray Anderson's Sustainable Legacy: Interface, Inc Part Two
Interface's Award Winning Sustainable Product Innovation
The Sustainable Supply Chain Efforts of Interface Inc
Interface's Environmental Product Declarations and Standards
Interface Inc is a Model of Transparency
Videos: Interface's Sustainability Challenges are Being Met with Innovation, Partnerships and Collaboration
Video: Ray Anderson on Sustainable Business

Read More»

The Washington Post Pays Tribute to Ray Anderson The Greenest CEO in America

Ray Anderson was a self made man who was a sustainability pioneer. As reported in a Washington Post article by Emily Langer, "Ray Anderson was often described as the greenest CEO in America for his crusade to turn his billion-dollar carpet company into an environmentally sustainable enterprise."

In 1994, after reading Paul Hawken’s book “The Ecology of Commerce,” Ray gained a new understanding of how business practices could damage the environment. At the time, carpet production required enormous amounts of petroleum and left behind mountains of unrecyclable waste. This pushed him to pursue what he later would call “Mission Zero” which has the goal of making Interface fully sustainable by 2020.

“It’s not often that you have a corporate CEO who is as committed to environmental issues or more than those of us in the environmental movement itself,” said Lester Brown, president of the Washington-based Earth Policy Institute. “I don’t think any other corporation has come close to doing what he has done.”

In speeches Mr. Anderson emphasized that the changes he had made to Interface did not cost him money, rather, they saved his company hundreds of millions of dollars.

“I always make the business case for sustainability,” he told the New York Times. “It’s so compelling. Our costs are down, not up. Our products are the best they have ever been. . . . And the goodwill in the marketplace — it’s just been astonishing.”

Sports taught him to compete and he remained competitive to the end.

“I’m also an industrialist and an entrepreneur and as competitive as anybody you’re likely to know,” he told the Financial Post in 2005. Ray showed that you can be profitable competitor while aggressively pursuing sustainability.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Related Posts
The Life of Sustainability Pioneer Ray Anderson
Ray Anderson Time Magazine's Hero of the Environment
Ray Anderson's Alliance for Sustainability Award
Summary of Accolades Received by Ray Anderson
Ray Anderson's Interface Inc. Amongst the "Best Corporate Citizens"
Ray Anderson's Sustainable Legacy: Interface, Inc Part One
Ray Anderson's Sustainable Legacy: Interface, Inc Part Two
Interface's Award Winning Sustainable Product Innovation
The Sustainable Supply Chain Efforts of Interface Inc
Interface's Environmental Product Declarations and Standards
Interface Inc is a Model of Transparency
Videos: Interface's Sustainability Challenges are Being Met with Innovation, Partnerships and Collaboration
Video: Ray Anderson on Sustainable Business

Read More»

Ray Anderson Time Magazine's Hero of the Environment

The late Ray Anderson was a sustainability pioneer who was awarded many accolades including one from TIME Magazine. Ray Anderson is the founder and chairman of Interface Inc., in 2007 he was named one of TIME Magazine’s international ‘Heroes of the Environment.’

Ray was one of only 43 people who were acknowledged for their work to encourage environmental best practice. Other winners in 2007 included Prince Charles and Al Gore. Ray commented, “To be recognized alongside such notable people is a testament to the pioneering spirit of Interface. If a single, $1 billion company can make a difference, imagine the impact if everyone did it.”

Ray went on to say, “Interface is positive proof that sustainability opens up new, different and better ways of thinking. Out of that new mind-set is a better way to a bigger profit, and a significant competitive advantage.” Ray calls this business model, “Doing Well by Doing Good.”

In addition to being named one of Time Magazine's Heros of the Environment, Ray was also called the "Eco CEO" by Metropolis magazine.

Ray Anderson will be remembered as a sustainable leader and a visionary entrepreneur who showed us the way.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Related Post
The Life of Sustainability Pioneer Ray Anderson
The Washington Post Pays Tribute to Ray Anderson The Greenest CEO in America
Ray Anderson's Alliance for Sustainability Award
Summary of Accolades Received by Ray Anderson
Ray Anderson's Interface Inc. Amongst the "Best Corporate Citizens"
Ray Anderson's Sustainable Legacy: Interface, Inc. Part One
Ray Anderson's Sustainable Legacy: Interface, Inc. Part Two
Interface's Award Winning Sustainable Product Innovation
The Sustainable Supply Chain Efforts of Interface Inc
Interface's Environmental Product Declarations and Standards
Interface Inc is a Model of Transparency
Videos: Interface's Sustainability Challenges are Being Met with Innovation, Partnerships and Collaboration
Video: Ray Anderson on Sustainable Business

Read More»

The Life of Sustainability Pioneer Ray Anderson

The world has lost a great advocate of industrial environmental sustainability. Ray Anderson, the founder of Interface, Inc., and sustainability pioneer, died on Monday, August 8, 2011.

His story is a tale of redemption. His journey to sustainability starts in 1994 when he realized the damaging impact his carpet manufacturing company was having on the environment.

To make Interface less destructive to the environment, Ray hired the best experts of the time. He then set to work developing new processes and relearning new manufacturing techniques. He put together a group which he called, “The Dream Team” and began to educate his employees.

Ray's experience at the helm of Interface illustrates many of the difficulties encountered by companies that go green. It was not easy, and he was not without detractors, but Ray believed it was worth the risk.

As a consequence of Rays determination, Interface is now forging new methods and thanks to Ray's guidance, Interface is well on its way to meeting their sustainability goals for 2020.

Ray not only radically changed the direction of his company he began to get involved with wider sustainability initiatives. He served as the Co-Chair of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development during the Clinton Administration and he partnered with many organizations.

Ray was passionate about sharing his sustainable experience with the world. Over the past 17 years, Ray traveled the world speaking to the role of business to address issues like resource depletion and environmental degradation.

The importance of business to manage the climate disaster we are facing is immense. As Ray said, “There is only one institution on earth that is large enough, powerful enough, pervasive enough, wealthy enough, and influential enough to really lead human kind in a different direction, out of the mess that we have created for ourselves… that is the institution of business and industry.”

Many of those that worked with Ray went on to share Ray's sustainable message. Some even developed successful careers in environmental sustainability.

Ray's life is the model of a life well lived, Ray's efforts not only benefited Interface and its employees, he has left a green legacy that others will follow.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Related Post
Ray Anderson Time Magazine's Hero of the Environment
The Washington Post Pays Tribute to Ray Anderson The Greenest CEO in America
Ray Anderson's Alliance for Sustainability Award
Summary of Accolades Received by Ray Anderson
Ray Anderson's Interface Inc. Amongst the "Best Corporate Citizens"
Ray Anderson's Sustainable Legacy: Interface, Inc. Part One
Ray Anderson's Sustainable Legacy: Interface, Inc. Part Two
Interface's Award Winning Sustainable Product Innovation
The Sustainable Supply Chain Efforts of Interface Inc
Interface's Environmental Product Declarations and Standards
Interface Inc is a Model of Transparency
Videos: Interface's Sustainability Challenges are Being Met with Innovation, Partnerships and Collaboration
Video: Ray Anderson on Sustainable Business

Read More»