Carpet Bombing the Green Message

Have you noticed that most radio DJs now can't tell any sort of witty anecdote without saying "Not doing my carbon footprint much good, but..." somewhere in their spiel? So is the eco-message going truly mainstream?

Well, this might sound like the start of a joke, but on Monday we walked into a carpet shop in Ashington, Northumberland (you can't get much more northern England, either in geography or attitude - they have ferret races there, I kid you not) to ask about, you guessed it, carpets. We mentioned we wanted something eco-friendly and were completely blown away by the response. Bob the friendly carpet salesman took us through every carpet option, describing the various materials used, where they were sourced from and the energy and recyclability issues relating to each. It was a bravura performance - exhaustive and somewhat exhausting - and pretty much on the button in terms of technical content.

Unfortunately we couldn't afford the most green option, but are getting a British Wool carpet with a non-PVC but synthetic backing. The underlay is made of recycled tyre rubber and natural fibres.

But I was most impressed with Bob - an unheralded green hero!