About-Face at Interface - a Model for Our Futures

Reading Paul Hawken's "The Ecology of Commerce" led Ray Anderson to reinvent the company he'd built. He took the company from a "take-make-waste" polluter to a biologically sustainable producer.

Ray passed away in 2011. Earlier this week, we received an email from the foundation he created asking for our support in encouraging President Biden to honor Ray’s exemplary work with the nation’s highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. “Of course and enthusiastically” was our reply.

Ray was an extraordinary person. He showed that business and industry can be a solution to global warming and global pollution rather than its principal source. Perhaps more significantly, he demonstrated that there is no legitimate excuse for failing to do so. We, as individuals, citizens, workers, leaders and neighbors are collectively failing to do what is necessary to change the course leading to a nasty future.

In the current election, one side promises to undermine and reverse what progress we’ve made. The other side has made some progress, but nowhere near enough. The publicity and engagement resulting from campaigning on Ray’s behalf and of the Medal of Freedom being awarded to him will provide tangible support to the well-intended side’s campaign. It will help to build the will, the energy and the intelligence necessary to make the essential changes to how we live our collective lives on this Earth.

This is not a plea for money. It is a request for engagement and action: Write a message of support to the President via the internet, or through regular mail, addressed to:

The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States,1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC, 20500. 

Send copies to your Senators and Representatives. Ask your friends and colleagues to do the same. And, you needn’t take my word for the importance of this:

1. Bill Becker, an energy policy expert who worked with Ray when he chaired the President’s Council on Sustainable Development, has written a column for The Hill celebrating Ray’s work titled “Good for the environment, good for business — our 21st century corporations can do it all”.

2. You can also watch Ray tell his story. We’ve taken from our archives an hour program we produced with Ray in 2009 titled “Natural Profits”. The full program is there if you want full immersion, and there are brief summaries of the content along with an outline of Ray’s key points and a list of 7 prominent companies following Ray’s lead.

The bad news is that this needs to happen by Tuesday (September 17th). As most of you are already overcommitted and time-deprived, the following is a template for what you might want to adapt for friends, Senators and your Congressional Representative.

Dear (title) (surname):

Join people worldwide in nominating Ray C. Anderson for a Presidential Medal of Freedom*. Ray’s vision for a Second Industrial Revolution showed “Sustainability” is profitable!  Known for his own corporate successes as founder and CEO of Interface, Inc. (the world’s leading manufacturer of commercial carpet), Ray was a much sought-after speaker, writer, consulting with businesses around the world, co-chair of the President’s U.S. President’s Council on Sustainable Development, celebrated with honors of all kinds while being a mentor to the world.

Two influential energy experts** are leading the effort to give PRESIDENT BIDEN this opportunity because of the “sea-change” Ray brought to industry, worldwide. He set Interface, Inc. on the path toward “Mount Sustainability”, ultimately to be RESTORATIVE.

JOIN people and organizations supporting this nomination BY SEPTEMBER 17th. Write a message of support to the President via the internet, or through regular mail, addressed to:

The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States,1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC, 20500.

Two 2 influential energy experts** are leading the effort to give PRESIDENT BIDEN this opportunity because of the “sea-change” Ray brought to industry, worldwide. He set Interface, Inc. on the path toward “Mount Sustainability”, ultimately to be RESTORATIVE. 

Sincerely/Respectfully/Adamantly…,

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*— The Presidential Medal of Freedom is our country’s highest civilian honor and recognizes contributions to the “prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors,” according to the White House.

**— Tribute from William S. Becker, former regional director at the U.S. Department of Energy and author of several books on climate change and national disaster policies, including the “100-Day Action Plan to Save the Planet,” and “The Creeks Will Rise: People Co-Existing with Floods.” : 

OR

Dear (title) (surname):

Almost everyone would agree that we are living in challenging and perilous times. High on the list of those challenges are political polarization and environmental devastation. Fortunately, there are people who have faced those challenges.

Those individuals are actively using their resources and imaginations to find or create solutions. Ray Anderson was one of those people. Together we are working to assure that President Biden will award Mr. Anderson the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his exemplary contributions to our collective futures and for his diligence in doing so.

If you’re unfamiliar with his work this (select items “1” or “2” above or both, adapt as necessary) is compelling evidence that his work and his life can serve as both map and guide for all of us. Please join us and use your resources to bring this project to fruition.

Sincerely/Respectfully/Adamantly…,

(signature)

Send a message of support to the President via the internet, or through regular mail, addressed to: The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States,1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC, 20500.

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This link will take you to an electronic magazine (EZine, in the parlance) with a fleshed-out version of the above background. It contains the original invitation from the Ray C. Anderson Foundation and our last conversation with Ray along with summaries of the content.

The future is ours to make or break. Help us make it. Please.