Government Purchasers Roll Out the Green Carpet

When you hear California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger bragging about the state's green carpet, he is not referring to the color. He is instead praising the high performance environmental features incorporated into every square foot of carpet California has bought since September 2006.

Each year, California buys 12 million square feet of carpet, enough to cover 47 miles of four-lane highway. Last year, the state began requiring manufactures to meet the new California Gold environmentally preferable carpet standard. The standard includes an extensive variety of environmental requirements covering indoor air quality, hazardous-materials content, recycled- and bio-based content, and dozens of related criteria.

There are currently six companies with 13 California Gold or Platinum certified products available in a wide variety of styles and colors. According to Dan Burgoyne, the Sustainability Manager for California's Department of General Services, California is not paying any additional cost for the more environmentally preferable carpets.