Leading European carpet manufacturer DESSO® has supplied
the Professional Passionates Electric Rally with over 100m2 of red
carpet and over 100m2 of artificial grass, to support their efforts
to reach the tipping point for driving electric. Furthermore,
Stef Kranendijk, Chief Executive Officer of Desso, and Rudi
Daelmans, Sustainability Director of Desso, will both be taking
part in the rally.
There will be a total of 100 (fully)electric cars driving
the 100km route through and around Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in
an effort to raise awareness about the benefits of electric
driving. Top companies will be present such as KLM, Q-Park,
TNT Post, Essent, TomTom, ANWB, AkzoNobel and Europcar, and
well-known Dutch personalities such as Rutger Hauer, Jan-Peter
Balkenende, Jan Lammers, Harm Edens, Hanna Verboom, and Beau van
erven Dorens will also be taking part. The event will be held on
Sunday 5th of June 2011 which coincides with the annual World
Environment Day, therefore highlighting even further the
environmental benefits that electric driving can bring. The finish
line and evening program will take place at NEMO, Amsterdam's
innovative Science Center, where Desso has provided over 100m2 of
red carpet and over 100m2 of artificial grass, upon which the
electric cars featured in the rally will be showcased for visitors
to admire.
Desso's interest in driving electric is a result of their Cradle
to Cradle® strategy, under which the company has been operating
since 2008. Desso aims to produce all their products under the
Cradle to Cradle® design principles by 2020. Cradle to
Cradle® design requires that products are made from pure materials
that are safe for human use and can be biologically or technically
recycled at the end of their useful life. It sees carpet as
being made up of nutrients that can be safely reused in an unending
cycle, whereby old carpet can be remade into new carpet, again and
again and again. Cradle to Cradle® also utilises renewable energy
sources, and combined with the increasing problem of expensive raw
materials and depleting oil reserves, the ability to drive electric
would be beneficial to all three Cradle to Cradle® stakeholders:
People, Planet and Profit.
Stef Kranendijk is looking forward to the event: "This is a
fantastic opportunity to highlight a real problem in today's world:
our depleting reserves. The last thing you should do with oil is
burn it, and although we have quite a way to go before we can all
drive electric cars, this is a great way to start the ball rolling.
Companies have a responsibility to lead the way and show consumers
how we can preserve our world for future generations, so I'm very
pleased to be taking part in this event."