Our Passion for Green
"At Shnier, we share a passion for beautifying living & working spaces; and we care just as much about the beauty of the natural world around us. That's why, under our "Environmentality" initiative, we seek to minimize the impact our products and services have on the natural world around us. After all, that's the most precious living space of all."
Shnier’s numerous “environmentality” green initiatives include donating excess inventory to Habitat for Humanity rather than sending it to landfill sites. The company conducts annual energy audits to track progress made on energy reduction initiatives. All shipping materials such as corrugate and plastic wrap are recycled as are printer cartridges. A “buy-back” program pays customers a return fee for empty wooden pallets and cardboard tubes. All internal printer paper, garbage bags, and sanitary paper products are from recycled sources.
Wicanders flooring is considered unique for its properties of thermal insulation, acoustic dampening, health benefits, and resiliency. Cork oak is free from allergens and hidden germs and is naturally anti-microbial, anti-bacterial, and hypoallergenic. For these reasons, the cork oak forests of Portugal, called the Montados, are considered to be extremely valuable and are a protected national resource. The harvesting of cork oak is unique in that the tree itself is never harmed in the process of stripping its bark, and biodiversity is aided by this necessary task. The Montados are home to wildlife such as nesting black storks, owls, Iberian lynxes, Imperial eagles, and wild boars. The forests are naturally hardy and survive without any use of synthetic or chemical herbicides, fertilizers or irrigation.
A global leader in the building materials industry, Armstrong is committed to environmental sustainability. Armstrong has a history of environmental stewardship. Our flooring business began by using cork waste to manufacture linoleum flooring. More recently we introduced the Armstrong Ceiling Recycling Program that has recycled over 45 million pounds of material that otherwise would have gone into landfills. Now we are broadening our environmental stewardship efforts in four areas – energy, greenhouse gases, water and forest management. These are the areas in which our company has a significant impact.
Marazzi has always given the utmost attention to the environment, in the awareness that we have to take an active approach to the problems caused by the industrial presence on the territory. Within this context, Marazzi decided some years ago to voluntarily register under EMAS Regulation, the first in Italy in the ceramics sector to receive the related certification, now incorporated with that of the ISO 14001 standard, which sets the requirements for implementing, developing, and keeping a corporate environmental management system. For certain product lines, Marazzi has also obtained the EU Ecolabel, the designation of ecological quality given to products that meet and respect both the environmental requirements and the rational use of energy resources as provided for by the European Union.
