My mom and dad gave me this fantastic doormat. You must be thinking, a doormat? What is soooo fantastic about a doormat? It's not just any old doormat, it's special.....The rope used in creating this doormat was part of a rope buy back program in Maine that affected hundreds of lobster men (and women) and thousands of feet of rope. Captain and I each have our recreational lobstering license, so we were very interested in the program. The story is this, lobster men were required to switch from rope that floats, to rope that will sink. The reason? To protect our wildlife. So when the tide goes out, all this extra, slack rope isn't floating around in the water that a seal or whale could get all wrapped up in. Captain and I actually already had the sinking rope (and a little breakaway do-hickey in case a harbor seal were to get caught in our ropes), so we were in compliance. But all that floating rope out there had to be replaced. And all that old rope would potentially end up in a landfill. Hundreds of thousands of pounds of rope.
Video link about these doormats: http://video.dailygrommet.com/services/player/bcpid37836813001?bctid=42733932001
Enter The Maine Float Rope Company. These doormats are designed by environmentalist Penny Johnston. Her company collects and recycles the rope and turns it into virtually indestructible doormats. The result is a safer habitat for marine mammals, some financial relief for the lobster men, and a cleaner environment.
3 comments:
Hi Casco Bay Soap,
I was interested to see your inclusion of one of the rope doormats on your site. As a point of clarification, I wanted to let your friends and followers know that the Bottom Line Project -- which is the groundline rope exchange program you mention above -- is run by the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation. Through this program we have collected over 1.6 million pounds of floating groundline from commercial Maine lobstermen. Most of the polypropylene rope had been recycled into low-grade plastic products like plant pots; but recently, some of that rope has been made available to companies like the Maine Float Rope Co. and Custom Cordage Co., to make these very cool doormats. Thanks for the mention!
Sincerely,
Laura Ludwig
Project Director, GOMLF
www.gomlf.org
Awesome! Thanks for the comments and follow up, you are the expert and I am glad to hear from you! I love my rug. We gave my father-in-law one for his birthday and then he also bought one for his best buddy back in CT. Thanks for reading and commenting. :)
Shannon
What a great product! & I was supprised to see it came in so many good colors. Do the people that make it make a hearth rug? I would be interested to know if they are fire resistant as well, since it would seem like another great product! Cool!
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