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."
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