Custom Entrance Mats That Are Environmentally Friendly

PRLog (Press Release) – Feb 14, 2009 –

Custom Entrance mats made of coco fiber are back. In today's world where more people are looking at products that will save our planet all the synthetic mats in front of stores are having a negative impact on the environmentally conscious consumer.

 

Coco mats were really popular back when I was a kid growing up in San Francisco.  You would see it everywhere from your front door to the floor mats used in all the luxury cars.  It lost some popularity with the advent of synthetic material like nylon and polypropylene.  But have you ever wondered what happens to all those custom entrance mats that you see in front of all those stores and hotels that you visit.  It sure looks pretty but after they get worn out by foot traffic these mats are replaced with new ones every year and the old mats end up in a landfill.  

 

In 2008, 20 million tons of these polymers were discarded to landfills.  Efforts to ban polymers from landfills has become a losing cause.  The only way to reduce the amount of waste is if we as consumers educate these establishments that are purchasing and then discarding these products without any idea of the impact.  These establishments need to switch to environmentally friendly mats made of coir fiber that are 100% natural and bio-degradable.  

 

Coir is a type of fiber that is extracted from the husk of the coconut.  The fibrous husks are beaten to separate out the long fibres and then spun into yarn.  The yarn is then woven or bonded to a recycled rubber backing to produce coir mats or coco mats.  The advantage of using coir in doormats is that it is extremely functional.  It scrapes the dirt of your shoe soles like no other product out there and requires very little maintenance.  If it gets dirty, simply lift it up and beat it down or hose it off and you are back in business.

 

Doing a little bit of research online (searched for the words 'coco mats' and 'custom logo coco doormats'), I was able to find several online stores that provided a variety of custom doormats made of coir fiber - http://www.cocomatsnmore.com and http://www.customlogodoormats.com seemed to be the most popular and had the lowest prices. These two sites had a variety of plain and pre-designed coco mats in all shapes and sizes. Some of their coco mats were as large as 40 ft long!  They even had the ability to create custom doormats by dyeing your artwork onto the coir mats in almost any size that you wanted.  

 

I have always been a big fan of the plain, old fashioned coco mat and I hope they come back in style for the sake of our planet.  For all those people considering custom doormats for your storefront - take a look at the coco mat and avoid those synthetic mats.  You might even save yourself some money by doing so!

 

India likely to get more coir export orders from US

14 Feb 2009, 1918 hrs IST, PTI

India likely to get more coir export orders from US

 

KOCHI: India's participation at the ongoing International Erosion Control Association (IECA) conference and its connected exhibition at Reno 

Navada, US, is likely to attract more export orders from US and IECA member countries, according to Coir Board Chairman V S Vijayaraghavan.

 

The growing global awareness on the need to use natural fibre products was bound to find increasing demand for environment-friendly products like coir geotextiles for various applications especially in erosion control, storm water management, natural resource protection, ground and roof cover, cycle path and for restoration of vegetation in arid and rocky lands, a board release quoting Vijayaraghavan, who is attending the conference, said.

 

Field trials conducted in India had established the durablity of geotextiles in various end uses like road and embankment protection in rural areas. Its low cost applications also made coir products more popular, he said.

 

Being held in the context of the International Year of Natural Fibre, the IECA conference assumed importance as India was aiming at increasing its geotextile product exports from the existing two per cent to 5-10 per cent at the prevailing 1,400 million square metre US market in the coming years.

 

The IECA is represented by about 3,500 members, including its Indian chapter. India's competitiors in this field included Sri Lanka, Philippines, Vietnam, Korea and China.

 

Coir Research Institute Director, Dr U S Sarma, accompanying Vijayaraghavan, made a technical presentation on 'Coir based Soil Less Natural Grass Instant lawn.

 

The chairman would also be participating in the four-day CAFLEX 2009 fair in Moscow from Feb. 09 

 

2009 : International Year of Natural Fibres

Report appeared in Mathrubhumi daily dt.13.1.09(Supplement Issue).

 

  

Year 2009 is declared as : International Year of Natural Fibres

 

 

Inter national Year of Natural Fibres

 

The year 2009 is also the year of Natural fibres. The United Nations aims the eradication of poverty by promoting this area which is the main earnings of the crores of agriculturists throughout the world. The natural fibre can be classified into three according to their origin.

a)      Plant origin:  Originated from the seeds like cotton, from the leaves like Egavi, from skin like plantain and soybeans, from nuts like coir and from stem like bamboo

b)      Animal origin: Originated from skin like sheep and from discharges like silk

c)      Mineral origin: Like asbestos (the only direct natural fibre of mineral origin), from ceramic fibres like glass and silicon carbide and from ores like aluminum.

 

 

Coir exports rise

Coir exports for the first nine-months in 2007/08 fiscal year rose by 6 percent in value and 1.25 percent in volume, according to the Coir Shippers Council.

Technology to separate coir fibre developed

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  In what could be termed as a blessing to the ailing coir sector of the state, the scientists at the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences and Technology (NIIST) have developed an environment-friendly and pollution-free technology to separate coir fibre.

 The innovative technology, that has many advantages over the traditional retting methods, is awaiting an international patent. ``While all the current alternatives to coir retting affects the quality of the fibre and thus its spinnability, the new technology generates high-quality white fibre in a very short time,'' said V.B.Manilal, scientist at the environment technology division of NIIST. The other scientists in the team include Ajit Haridas and B.Krishnakumar.

 The pilot plant set up at the NIIST has a cleaner, a crusher, where the husks are given a slight mechanical crush, and an anaerobic reactor. Inside the reactor, the cementing materials between the fibres are degraded. The phenolic compounds in the husk, which are the sources of pollution in traditional retting, is converted to volatile fatty acids such as acetic acid. This is then converted to methane by a battery of bacteria.

 The novel bioprocess needs just about one month, as against the 6-12 months in traditional methods, and is free of pollution as the pollutants are converted to biogas. As much as 50 litres of biogas is generated for one kilogram of coconut husks, the production being much higher than using cow dung.

 ``The smooth surface property, as can be seen with the electron microscope, and the improved flexibility are the special qualities of these bioextracted fibres. This quality is essential for high-end applications in the international market,'' said Manilal. The bioextraction process is also applicable for separating fibres of pineapple, jute and even banana too, where the extraction time is much less. The jute fibre obtained by this clean method is better in terms of colour and bark residues too. In this method, the whole process is carried out within plantations and no water body is required for retting. This means that water bodies can be released for a number of other uses such as fisheries and tourism industry can heave a sigh of relief. The other advantages include zero discharge, no hazardous labour, no air pollution, reduction of process period to 30 days, and a clean pith as a by-product.

 Using this technology, the projected figure of white fibre production per year is 1.2 lakh tonne from 15 lakh tonne husks. Once this technology gains currency, you won't have to clutch your nose anymore when you travel by the coastal areas of Kollam and Alappuzha.

Coir panel moots massive mechanisation

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Coir Commission has recommended a huge outlay for coir development and a massive programme of mechanisation to boost production and productivity.

The commission, headed by CPI (M) MLA Anathalavattom Anandan, in its report presented to the government on Friday, suggested an outlay of Rs.450 crore for implementing a rehabilitation programme over a period of four years.

It suggested three special programmes for procuring husk involving husk agents, besides setting up husk procurement cooperatives and a procurement consortium. It also recommended an annual outlay of Rs.13.77 crore for husk procurement, including a subsidy component.

The commission said 100 defibreing units would be set up using the beater technology both in the private and cooperative sector. It suggested an outlay of Rs.18.80 crore for this scheme, under which the private sector would be eligible for 50 per cent subsidy and the cooperative sector 75 per cent subsidy.

It also suggested installing 10,500 automatic spinning machines in the private and cooperative sector to replace the current traditional ratts to boost productivity. It wanted the government to promote three types of fibering methods, including the traditional one. It earmarked an outlay of Rs.15 crore for this under a special package. It also recommended modernisation of looms to reduce the skulduggery of workers.

Another major recommendation is to revamp coir cooperatives to improve their efficiency and expand operations. The commission also recommended several welfare measures for employees.

It also recommended setting up of coir machinery manufacturing facilities, including maintenance and repair at a cost of Rs.30 crore.

The commission recommended an Apex Body for Coir (ABC) for the comprehensive growth of the sector. The ABC will be modelled after the Planning Board, with the Minister as chairman and an expert as vice-chairman. The ABC will be entrusted with the task of issuing guidelines and overseeing the implementation of government policies. The report was presented to Coir Minister G. Sudhakaran.

Coir exporters bank on strong dollar to recover past losses

Financial Express

18 Sept. 2008

 

Coir exporters are banking on the strengthening of the dollar to recoup losses suffered in the recent past, traders say. Coir exports have suffered loss due to the slow down in European and US economies and are reporting a decline in the past few months. With the Indian Rupee weakening against the dollar, exporters see an opportunity in pruning the rates and regaining the losses, Coir Shippers Council Secretary KC Eapen told FE.

 

During the last FY, the coir sector suffered reverses due to the strengthening of the Indian Rupee and incremental coir exports were carried out at declining unit value. While volume of exports increased by 10.5% during 2007-08, when compared with the previous FY, value dropped by 2.7%. "Rupee has come down by almost Rs 6-8 when compared to the same period last year. This should help exporters in bringing more volumes," Eapen said. He added that India has a monopoly in the export of coir and with the only deciding factor being rates, the declining rupee opens new markets for exporters.

 

As per the provisional figures of the Coir Board, export of coir and coir products dropped by 23.12 % during August alone, while value showed a decline of 15.91%. However, the cumulative exports for the current FY (April-August) show an increase in volume and value of 6.9% and 7.56% respectively.

 

Coir mats, pith, yarn and fibre are showing a declining trend while rugs and carpets recorded an incredible increase of 300 % in volume terms during the period. Traders also fear that export to China may suffer in the coming days with consumption slowing down there post Olympics.