IceStone Puts Weight Behind Sustainability Claim By Shaving Pounds, Carbon & Dollars

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media contact: Geoff Geils
Email: ggeils@icestoneusa.com

Telephone: (718) 624-4900

GREEN COUNTERTOP LEADER SHOWCASES INNOVATIVE TRADE SHOW BOOTH AND SAMPLING STRATEGY WITH SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS

Brooklyn, NY, November 1, 2009 – Anyone who has ever walked a design trade show can see how resource-intensive the process of taking the ‘show on the road’ can be. From manufacturing, shipping, assembling and disassembling the booth, to shipping heavy samples around the country the design industry can be downright dirty… even for green companies. Now, one company is showing its true color when it comes to green.

Today, the Brooklyn-based durable surfaces leader, IceStone, announced their company’s innovative Green Road Show program that boasts huge savings – in pounds shipped, carbon footprint, and dollars typically spent on conventional trade show booths.

The new IceStone trade show booth will make its debut at Greenbuild next month, the nation’s leading show for helping companies to green their businesses, held this year in Phoenix on November 11-13th. IceStone will be one of the more than 1,800 exhibitors, but exemplary in illustrating the company’s complete commitment to sustainability, including through the company’s booth and new sample program.

The booth is made from recycled cardboard (90% post consumer content) and organic glues that are assembled photographed panels of IceStone. The old booth that featured IceStone slabs weighed 8,300 lbs, typical for a design trade show booth. The new booth uses re-pulpable and recyclable panels which can be made into other products at the end of their life cycle. It weighs only 1,070 lbs – a savings of 7,230 lbs each time the booth ships to and from shows, or an 87% reduction in weight. Shipping costs decreased from $3,500 to only $1,400 for the new lightweight version. The panels themselves were created using UV cured graphics, which means no toxic VOCs were used, and biodiesel was used during production of the booth. The lighting in the booth is LED or low energy and the flooring (from FLOR) uses 70% recycled content and is certified both by Green Label Plus (for indoor air quality) and by NSF for the Sustainable Carpet Assessment. STUDIOetc, a fellow B Corporation member, created the booth for IceStone.

In addition to the booth, the company is rolling out a super-light swatch deck as part of a green sampling program. Made by Tricycle, Inc, the swatch deck illustrates all 29 of IceStone’s colors, including the company’s nine new Refined Line colors. Both the new booth and sample deck demonstrate IceStone’s commitment to sustainability throughout the company – from innovative product design, to manufacturing, marketing, and implementing a triple bottom line strategy that represents people, planet and profits.

The sample deck is a durable, green, and beneficial resource for designers and architects and is now available through IceStone distributors. It is made from PLA, a compostable plant-based substrate. These decks weigh only 4 ounces, costing $34 a piece as opposed to a 40lb sample box costing $110. In 2008, the company shipped approximately 50,000 traditional samples to architects and designers, resulting in 80,000 lbs of waste. This new program will reduce waste, and lower IceStone’s costs and carbon footprint.

About IceStone

Founded six years ago and based in a day-lit factory in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, IceStone is creating a ‘counter-culture’ of new green, durable surfaces made from recycled glass and cement to be used for countertops, bar-tops, commercial desks and surfaces, flooring and many other applications. IceStone is the only durable surface to achieve Gold level Cradle to Cradle certification, given by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC). This certification shows that IceStone’s company and products have passed stringent manufacturing standards that measure toxic ingredients, emissions levels, water and energy usage, renewable investments, on-going data collection systems and recyclability, as well as a code of corporate ethics and labor standards. IceStone is also a founding member of B Corporation, which designates the company’s commitment to meeting comprehensive social and environmental standards. Visit www.icestone.biz.

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