The Hammock Source implemented sustainable practices long before it was fashionable to do so.Since forming in the 1970s, The Hammock Source in Greenville, N.C., has always made recycling and reuse a priority. Little did the company know that someday, its simple business practices would be en vogue. “It was the culture that the company came up in because founder and chairman of the board Walter Perkins Jr. was someone who did not like to throw things out,” says Frank Rabey, The Hammock Source manager of creative marketing. “He hated to see the waste.”

That ongoing desire to reuse materials has led to many new ideas that contribute to the company’s profitability. The Hammock Source recycles all cardboard and steel—but only when the bins are full. The company, which uses DuraCord® in some of its hammocks, encourages consumers to return their products when they’re done. The Hammock Source returns those items to the manufacturer, American Fibers & Yarns, which reuses them in other products. Also, scraps of DuraCord fabric are used as stuffing in many of the company’s DuraCord outdoor pillows. From an energy-saving standpoint, ventilator fans are used in the industrial area so that the air conditioning doesn’t need to run at night.

The reuse philosophy also presents opportunities to branch out into new products. On a trip to Brazil, Perkins Jr. saw “Indiana Jones”-style fedoras made of recycled cargo-truck burlap tarps and wire from old tires. The Hammock Source is now marketing the hats, called the Real Deal Brazil. “It’s very easy to get behind this product,” Rabey says. “Here’s stuff that would’ve been traditionally trash, and now it’s become a real treasure of a hat.”

Holly O’Dell is a freelance writer based in southern California.