When you are part of a wood flooring installation project, where does the existing floor – carpet, tile, linoleum, or damaged wood – go? You might not know. We understand.
But 5280 Floors, in Denver, is paying attention to these details. The five-year-old company takes sustainability seriously, recycling 100 percent of cardboard, plastic and carpet pads, and 80 percent of the carpet its crews take out of homes.
“We’ve struggled with what do we do with the wood we take out, how to keep it out of the landfill?” says Eric See, President of 5280 Floors. “We came up with an idea to make Colorado state flags out of the scrap wood flooring. The purpose is two-fold. It’s a way to make sure our own guys can fill out their 40-hour weeks, even if work projects don’t quite get them there on any given week. It also gives us a vehicle for giving back to our local community.”
5280 is new in this charitable venture, but the wheels are turning. The wooden flags are wall art, typically around 18” x 36” in size, topped with rustic sheet metal that forms the “C” and sun disc at the center of it. Proceeds from sales are donated.
“We’re a small Colorado company,” says Maralisa Burns, Project Coordinator. “We want to work with a small Colorado organization that is benefitting Colorado, to build our own community.”
“We decided the areas we wanted to help our community would focus on kids and nature conservation,” Eric says. “We found both of those in one organization, Environmental Learning for Kids.”
How You Can Make a Difference
Environmental Learning for Kids (ELK) inspires and develops leaders among urban youth ages five to 25 through science
and environmental education. Founded in 1996 by two wildlife biologists, the nonprofit organization’s programs have benefited more than 160,000 kid in Arapahoe, Adams and Denver counties.
As part of 5280’s idea to turn scrap wood flooring into art that benefits ELK on an ongoing basis, the company is kicking off special events to promote the project. 5280 Floors will co-host its first of these events – Boards + Brews – with its neighboring company, Wit’s End Brewing Co., on April 19.
Boards + Brews is a casual art-making get-together. Participants get preassembled wood flags they can stain or otherwise finish in their own creative vision to take home. They also get two beer tickets, a bite to eat catered by a local restaurant, and the feel-good from having fun making art with friends while giving something to the future of their community. Event tickets are $90.
The path forward is a carefully planned one. While an e-commerce site and quarterly Boards + Brews events are goals, 5280 is focused on building a solid foundation one step at a time to make this a long-term success.
The first event is planned to be a modest-sized one, a chance to test the waters and learn how to make future events an ever-improving experience for participants. The long-term vision includes bringing 5280’s builder clients, distributors and designers together, into the mix to be part of solutions that minimize the waste that comes from this work, while making something positive from it.
“We’d like to build up this success and then promote the possibilities through industry groups to show what can be done,” Eric says. “We all are sitting on this waste – this opportunity.
“In the end, we’re trying to build a company that is significant, not just profitable.”
Learn more and keep up with 5280 Floors at 5280floors.com and on Facebook.