Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Interview with The Eco-Floor Store- Jared

This week, we interviewed Jared from The Eco-Floor Store.

Tell us a bit about your company?
The Eco Floor Store only sells surfaces – floors, wall coverings and countertops – that are safe for the environment and safe for use in our buildings. That means that most of our surfaces are made with recycled and/or sustainably harvested materials and that they don’t contain any toxic chemicals.

According to a recent article on GreenBiz.com, most of us spend 90% of our time indoors. Think of it: most of us work indoors, “play” indoors and then sleep indoors. That means indoor air quality has a huge impact on our health. We can build buildings with materials that can make us sick or with materials that keep us healthy.

That’s the main benefit to choosing one of our surfaces. In addition to our own research, our brands are certified by third parties, such as FloorScore®, GreenGuard and FSC, and are accepted for use in R-2000-Certified, BuiltGreen Certified and LEED Certified projects. (Read more about our Eco Commitment here.) By building with our eco-friendly brands, our clients are building healthy buildings.

To learn more about the specific products we sell, you can check out our website on our Eco Floors and Eco Surfaces pages. The most popular eco-friendly floors we sell are the Marmoleum and hardwood floors (various brands). Our top wall surfaces are the FriendlyWall, the reclaimed barn wood wall tiles and our sustainably harvested cork wall surfaces.

When was this company founded?
January 2011

Who started it?
Myself, Jared Kress.

What advice would you give to youth who are looking to go into a similar field?
Go the extra distance when it comes to quality. It’s the extra little details – usually the ones that take the most time – that make the difference between a good installation and a great installation. But it’s those details that will wow the clients.

Do you think it is important for youth to get involved in sustainable practices? Why?
Definitely. It’s important for all of us, but if we make sustainability a part of our lifestyle from an early age, then we can make an even greater impact.

Potential for internships/paid work experience at your company?
Yes, there is the opportunity for paid work experience for carpentry students or interior design students.

In a general sense, what does sustainability mean to you?
Sustainability means being conscious about how our lifestyle – how each decision we make – affects our planet and our health (the two go hand in hand). Sustainability doesn’t always need to be some huge action, it’s the little things, like using less water (not watering the lawn!), turning off the lights, carpooling more often, eating less meat, that can have the biggest impact. For our family, it’s not about being perfect, but it’s about being OK with the decisions we make – and when we’re uncomfortable with one of our choices, then we make sustainability improvements to our lifestyle.

Any closing comments?
We often think of eco-friendly or sustainability as something that only affects the environment. But what affects our environment, affect us as people. That adds another layer to the definition of "green building", one that is still often overlooked. Green building isn’t just about building an energy efficient home, it’s about building a home (or other building) that’s safe for everyone, that will last for decades AND that’s energy efficient. And that means researching and selecting building materials and technologies that have a positive impact on everything – the planet and all of its occupants.

Special thanks to Jared for taking part in this interview.

Website:
http://www.ecofloorstore.ca/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ecofloorstore

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