Dalton—In celebration of World Water Day, Mohawk Group announced its partnership with Water.org in an effort to help increase access to safe water and sanitation worldwide. A part of this new initiative, Mohawk Group will empower 75,000 people in areas experiencing scarcity and drought by providing lasting access to safe water and/or sanitation, totaling 275 million gallons by 2030. Additionally, the partnership will mobilize $2 million toward household solutions for people in need.
“We initially discovered Water.org upon partnering with The Climate Pledge,” said Malisa Maynard, vice president of sustainability at Mohawk Industries. “In sharing common goals and walking similar paths, we knew right away that we needed to explore the impact our two organizations could make by coming together.”
Access to safe water improves health, protects and saves lives, yet one out of every 10 people remains deprived of this natural resource. One out of every four people lacks access to a toilet. Now in its 30th year, World Water Day celebrates water and raises awareness of the two billion people living without access to safe water. This year’s theme revolves around accelerating change to solve the water and sanitation crisis.
“As individuals, companies, global citizens and stewards of our natural resources, we have a duty and an opportunity to leave a lasting impact and turn the tide to set an example in how we use and understand water,” Maynard noted. “To meet the charge for accelerated change, we need other individuals and companies to stand up and stand with us all in a common goal for water equity.”
Mohawk Group has positioned itself as the leader in manufacturing sustainable commercial building materials. Its partnership with Water.org is aligned with the company’s multi-faceted water restorative initiatives for its Living Product Challenge petal certified line of flooring products. Since being better for the planet is about a holistic plan and an understanding that river health is human health, Mohawk Group balances all water on its Living Product carpet tiles by 105% for a net-positive impact on the world’s waterways.
The thoughtful utilization and conservation of water is at the heart of the company’s holistic design and manufacturing processes. For example, Mohawk Group’s Color Pulse yarn system uses a zero-water dyeing process, helping to reduce a commercial flooring project’s water impact by one cup of water per carpet tile. This ultimately saves over 5.3 million cups of water per year. Since 2017, Mohawk Group has balanced 198 million gallons of water through partnerships, product innovations and operational improvements.
“Our commitment to build a better tomorrow is a reminder that while we have continuously moved the needle, there is still more work to do,” Maynard said. “We will continue on this mission, together with Water.org, to help put the globe back on its course toward equity in water and sanitation.”