Did you know American landfills are clogged with more than 5 billion pounds of used carpet every year? Crazy, right? If you or someone you know (or work for) is thinking of swapping out their carpet, do your darndest to keep that rug out of the landfill by recycling it. Carpet recycling isn’t as easy as aluminum, glass or paper recycling, but it’s worth the extra effort to keep all of those rugs out of landfills. So…. Why’s it so tricky? Generally speaking, carpet is made up of four of five different types of fibers (nylon, polyester, olefin, etc.), plus a backing, a pad and an

adhesive. To recycle the carpet, the fibers must be separated and recycled individually. That’s a lot of work! Before you purchase your replacement carpet, ask the retailer or installer if they can help you recycle your used carpet. If not, check out the interactive map on the CARE (Carpet America Recovery Effort) website or good ol’ Earth 911 for the nearest recycler to you. Feeling extra sexy? After you’ve recycled your used carpet, invest in carpet that’s made from recycled material, or is made from rapidly renewal resources, like jute or hemp. Photograph by Ildar Sagdejev

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recycle carpet.