Dematerialize Meet your customers' needs with as few resources as possible. This suggests opportunities for miniaturization like superconcentrated laundry detergents, as well as for multipurpose products like solar panels built into wall siding. The biggest opportunities for efficiency, however, come from substituting know-how and service for material products. They are now developing mass transportation systems for China and global positioning systems to get vehicles and shipments from place to place more directly. Car leasing and copier leasing are two examples.
Customers lease the carpet and accompanying maintenance services.
Interface retains ownership of the carpet, and takes it back after use for additional uses or recycling, thus retaining the value of the carpet as an asset and controlling all liabilities of the carpet in landfills. From the standpoint of environmental sustainability, this means making products fit consumers needs as closely as possible. This strategy makes the case for appropriate technology. This strategy also has implications for localized technologies, especially for renewable energies like solar, wind and hydro. Current environmental product efforts are initiated with a goal of minimizing environmental impact.