By Rochelle Routman, Metroflor Chief Sustainability Officer If you speak French, Spanish, German, Dutch, or Italian, you can now quickly identify what is in your Aspecta flooring! Aspecta did this first with gusto and courage! Here’s the backstory. In October, 2017, the Aspecta by Metroflor team in Calhoun, Georgia first contacted our friends at the ILFI (the International Living Future Institute) to let them know that we had an audacious idea: we wanted to translate our Declare labels (nutrition labels for building products) into five European languages. The purpose of this was twofold: 1) to help the ILFI continue to spread its word about Declare throughout the world, and 2) to empower our customers in European countries to immediately identify – in their own language –the ingredients of the flooring that they purchase from us. This was a brand-new idea for everyone. Completion of this effort took a few months, because ILFI did not have a protocol in place to handle our request. In spite of this, ILFI took on the challenge and as a result of our request, developed a formal protocol for label translations to ensure that the rigor of the Declare program is maintained in every language. ILFI then paid us the highest compliment by naming Aspecta by Metroflor “Declare Thought Leaders” and encouraged us to motivate “other manufacturers to share the transparency message worldwide”. James Connelly, Vice President, Products and Strategic Growth at International Living Future Institute even told us that new European Declare labels are “so cool”. Yes, we couldn’t agree more! On a personal note, I am grateful to the ILFI for entertaining this idea and then moving forward in such a thoughtful way. I am grateful for the culture of my company, because it encourages disruptive behavior and moves at the speed of Usain Bolt. Mr. Bolt, the “world’s fastest man”, is frequently cited by our Group CEO, Harlan Stone, as our company inspiration for making important things happen fast. I am also grateful to a recent southern transplant, Arthur Clarke, who accomplished this on behalf of the company, and whose efforts have opened up a world of possibilities! I can’t think of a better way to close out 2017. Can you? Have Questions? Feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] or give our customer support team a call at (888) 235-6672. We would be happy to help you out! You can also reach out via social media through these channels: “Like” Metroflor on Facebook Follow Metroflor on Instagram Follow Metroflor’s Twitter Find Metroflor on HOUZZ Subscribe to our YouTube Channel