Our Mission
Ray’s Epiphany
For the first 21 years of Interface’s existence, the company gave no serious thought to what we were taking from or doing to the Earth. We did what was necessary — we abided by all the necessary laws and regulations — and focused, like most companies, on running a growing business.
In 1994, while preparing remarks on Interface’s environmental plans for a company meeting, Interface founder and Chairman, Ray Anderson, read Paul Hawken’s “The Ecology of Commerce” — an experience Ray has described as an epiphany, a “spear to the chest” awakening to the urgent need to set a new course toward sustainability for Interface. Coupled with Daniel Quinn’s “Ishmael,” the book changed Ray’s life and set us on our journey.
Evolving Toward a Restorative Enterprise
Interface committed to become the first name in industrial ecology worldwide. Ray set before his global team the challenge to convert Interface to a restorative enterprise. As a first step, this means reaching sustainability in our own business practices. To become truly restorative, however, will require Interface to ultimately return more than it takes. We will meet that higher goal by helping other organizations achieve sustainability.
Organizational Learning
Throughout our journey, Interface has surrounded itself with teachers and thought leaders in sustainability to educate us, challenge our thinking and hold us accountable. Led by Ray, we began to think of our business through a lens shaped by the principles of The Natural Step, which asks how nature would design an industrial system.