Recycling Old Fishing Nets Into Beautiful Carpet Tile

For World Oceans Day 2019 we partnered up with Interface to explain you all about Net-Works, a program to turn fishing nets into high design carpet tile while helping local communities. Continue reading to learn more about this program supporting less plastic and more fish in our oceans!

World Oceans Day 2019

World Oceans day is a special day to think and act about conservation, climate change and what we can do about it. This year's theme is 2019: Together we can protect and restore our ocean.

Plastic pollution is a major problem for our oceans today. If you think about protecting and restoring our ocean, removing amounts of plastic is a great goal. Fishing nets are the biggest source of plastic waste in our oceans, or at least in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, not single-use plastics like straws or bags.

Apart from the amount of nylon plastic in our ocean, those nets still serve their purpose: Catching fish! With nobody at the other end of the line, those ghost fishing nets, kill marine life directly and indirectly.

This is why we partnered-up with Interface to raise awareness for their Net-Works program. Their goal is to restore our ocean by turning used fishing nets into high design carpet tiles for homes or offices. It is sustainable, helping local communities and not only removes fishing nets but also prevents them from being dumped at sea.

Ghost Fishing Explained

Ghost fishing is basically catching fish and other marine life without any purpose. Old or broken fishing nets are often dumped overboard by fishermen, being of no longer use. The nylon fishing nets float in the sea like ghosts and being tangled to coral formations or wrecks.

If you have been SCUBA diving you might have seen fishing lines or fishing nets remotely on the bottom, maybe you have removed some from your dive site. According to Net-Works 640 thousand metric tons of fishing gear is abandoned in our oceans every year.

Turning Ghost Fishing Nets Into Carpets

Net-Works is a program that focuses on recycling discarded fishing nets into nylon yarn, strings of fiber. Local communities collect and clean the fishing nets in return for money. At a company called Aquafil the nets are turned into yarn. The yarn is then sold to Interface to make high design carpet tiles. In their info-graphic you can learn more about the steps and positive effects.

Thanks to the Net-Works program, not only fishing nets are removed from the oceans - they are also preventing fishing nets being dumped. Fishermen can now sell their old nets directly to Net-Works, so they will not be dumped at sea.

Watch the following video to see the whole process.

Opportunity - Income - Empowerment - Connectedness

Climate Take Back From Interface

'If humanity has changed the climate by mistake, can we change it with intent?'

Interface is a global flooring company with a mission to eliminate every negative effect of the company on the environment by 2020. Their Climate Take Back™, invites other companies to join them as they commit to running their business in a way that is restorative to the planet and creates a climate fit for life.

Where to Buy Those Carpet Tiles Made from Fishing Nets

Find samples and more information on the website of Interface.

Net-Works Can Use Your Help

Learn more about Net-Works and what you can do on their website.