Workers install hydraulic lift to raise book shelves to remove old carpeting.

Wauwatosa, Wis.—RJB Commercial Flooring recently formed an interesting partnership with the public library here, taking part in the ever-expanding green initiative. In a joint contribution to keep carpet from entering landfills, the two pooled resources to transport the library’s approximately 26,000 square feet of old carpet to a reclamation plant in the south.

Dick Burgmeier, owner of RJB, originally proposed the recycling project to Mary Murphy, director of Wauwatosa Public Library. “Somewhere along the line we have to start helping our planet.”

The board agreed the small addition to the budget was for a worthwhile cause, especially since the cost to ship the carpet would be split with RJB. In total, the library paid “less than 1% of the total cost of the project” extra, according to Murphy, which came from a bequest.

Burgmeier praised the library for “placing action behind words with a desire to do something good for the planet.”

The broadloom was taken to Mohawk’s carpet reclamation center, where it will become “something other than flooring in its next life,” said Burgmeier.