Merida Materials, Part 1: Sisal

While I’ve always been interested in various aspects of sustainability, I’ve only recently learned the specifics of sustainability in the rugs, carpets, and flooring industry. Through working at Merida Meridian, I’ve learned a little bit about the materials that their eco-friendly products are made of, so I thought I’d use my next few blog entries to further explore these materials. The first material I researched was sisal.

THE BASICS: Sisal is a fiber derived from the agave plant that is grown in warm climates. The agave plant is durable and can survive under extremely hot or dry conditions. The plants can live for about a decade and produce leaves that can be made into twine each year. Sisal is considered sustainable because it quickly renewable and because the plant doesn’t need pesticides or tons of water to grow successfully. This means it is a great crop for economically developing country because people can grow it without many other resources. Since most sisal farming is done by hand, there is usually no need for herbicides either because the farmers can remove unwanted plants themselves – which helps create even more jobs. However, harvesting the plant can leave residues that can become pollutants if they enter waterways, but many farms are using these leftovers to create biofuel instead.

Merida’s sisal is grown in Kenya, Tanzania, and northeastern Brazil and woven in Belgium and Brazil to create beautiful durable natural rugs. While there is obviously a lot of transportation of materials involved, Merida is working to make its sisal rugs completely biodegradable and sustainable in other ways. Merida is also experimenting with vegetable based spinning oils that are more sustainable than traditional petroleum-based spinning oils. All of these aspects make Merida rugs more sustainable than your average rug.

During my research, I also discovered that investing in sisal by purchasing a rug or by  supporting the sustainable flooring industry is beneficial to the global economy. Sisal production has declined over the past few years because farmers growing the crop are having trouble making enough money to support their families. Immediately after Kenyan Independence, sisal was the second biggest export crop following coffee, but now families are having trouble making a profit from the crop, so the market would benefit from consistent buyers. Farmers are hopeful though because the trend towards sustainable products is creating a promising worldwide demand for sisal.

To learn more, make sure to check out the “Our Natural Fibers” portion of the website at: http://www.meridahome.com/t-Our_Natural_Fibers.aspx