Jumping On the Bandwagon

As you may already know,

marketing is the center of product inception.

Companies wouldn't know what to produce without knowledge of the current market demand.

Beaulieu/Coronet, one of our long-time partnerships in the carpet manufacturing business, decided it was about time they did the same.

While conducting research pertaining to their specific market share,

Beaulieu realized that 94% of consumers feel overwhelmed when confronted by too much diversity in flooring.

Multiple samples, colors, grades, etc. causes a longer buying-decision process.

Their results also showed that there was a high demand for carpet, but manufacturers were not meeting the demands of the consumers.

In 2007, Beaulieu/Coronet released Bliss Carpets.

Bliss is the first eco-friendly carpet line that Beaulieu/Coronet has ever released.

To simplify the buying-decision process, Bliss sample racks come with easy to follow instructions.

Step 1 is to pick one of their 50 colors.

Step 2 is to pick one the grade and style.

There are 2 grades: Premium and Best.

The styles are essentially the same, but named differently due to the difference in grade.

For example, Breathe Easy is a Premium.

You can get the same style in Best, but it is called Live Fresh.

The 3 style names in Premium are Breathe Easy, Fresh Air, and Relax.

The 3 style names in Best are Live Free, Clean Living, and Restore.

Bliss carpets also contain silver release technology.

This fiber technology prevents fungi/mildew/germs.

Providing your home with fresh and clean carpeting year round.

It is made from 100% recycled polyester.

It also contains Magic Fresh, a self-renewable odor prevention treatment.

Bliss comes with a 60 day "No Questions Asked" warranty.

Besides being a very useful type of carpeting, Bliss also claims it's share of popularity.

Upon its release in winter of 2007, it won the Floor Covering Weekly's Dealer's Choice Award.

Bliss also received the National Floor Trends Styling Excellence Award in 2008.

A Natural Palette

Photo Courtesy of http://www.yolocolorhouse.com/colors_earth.php

As mentioned in an earlier blog,

Marina Flooring has decided to include Yolo Paint in their product selection.

What is Yolo Paint?

Yolo Paint is a no VOC paint that comes in a variety of bases that can be mixed into various

hues.

They became an eco-friendly company in 2005.

Yolo is focused on environmentally-friendly practices and the enrichment of the arts in their

community.

This attitude is displayed in their mission statement:

"We are connected to our community as artists, teachers, environmentalists and a woman-owned business.
Our products are designed to inspire confidence and creativity.
We bring environmental and social values to the workplace.
We are passionate about and committed to what we do every day."

Yolo's eco-conscious approach inspired them to entitle their recent collection:

"Earth's Colors"

The colors that can be mixed our put into several categories

Air

Grain

Water

Leaf

Stone

Petal

Clay

Yolo provides paints for indoor and outdoor needs.

They also provide poster size swatches of the featured colors.

Their recent experiments include Little Yolo.

A non-toxic, washable, interior paint.

These colors come in one group: Sprout

But contain pastel pink, light blue, beige, and yellow.

For more information check out their website:

http://www.yolocolorhouse.com/littleyolo/colors.php

Or come visit our showroom.

Our warehouse contains the color books, various bases and paints, as well as the paint mixer

that creates the hues of your choice.

We also have the sample books for this paint, as well as the sample swatches.

Defining Green [[Terms to Remember]]

Many consumers who have just jumped onto the eco-friendly bandwagon,

have very little knowledge or don't quite comprehend the "green lingo".

I found an interesting article in "Floor Coverings Weekly" that outlines some of the major terms you should know while exploring eco-friendly interior design.

I chose a few that pertain to our particular industry.

Certified Wood- Wood or wood based materials that comply with sustainable forestry practices.

Closed-Loop Process- A manufacturing process that recycles 100% of raw materials and wastes back into the production cycle.

Composite Wood- A product consisting of wood or plant particles or fibers bonded together by a synthetic resin or a binder.

Greenwashing- The practice of making an unsubstantiated or misleading claim about the environmental benefits of a product, service, technology, or company practice.

Post-Consumer Recycled Content- Material used and then recycled by consumers.

Pre-Consumer Content- Material diverted from the waste stream during manufacturing process. It is also knowns as post-industrial material.

Reclaimed Material- Building components that have been recovered from a demolition site and are reused in their original state.

Recycled Content- The weight of recycled material in a product--including post-consumer and pre-consumer material-- divided by the overall weight of the product.

Recycling- The collection, reprocessing, marketing and use of materials that were diverted or recovered from a solid waste stream.

Reuse- The return of salvaged materials to use in the same or related capacity.

Solvent- a component in many adhesive and sealant formulations. Many solvents are identified chemically as volatile organic compounds.

Sustainable- A way of life in which the use of natural resources does not destroy them for future use.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) - A carbon compound that vaporizes at normal room temperature. They contribute to air pollution directly and through atmospheric photochemical reaction.

[[Reminder: Our Yolo Paint contains no VOCs (See Above Definition)]]