Celebrating World Environment Day with the story of Lithoverde®
06.2022
In recognition of World Environment Day, we’re taking the opportunity to share the story of Lithoverde®, our flagship green stone texture
Celebrating World Environment Day with the story of Lithoverde®
June 5 marks World Environment Day and this year we decided to share the story of our pride and joy when it comes to the theme of sustainability. Yes, for those of you who know us well, we are talking about Lithoverde®, and for those who have not yet heard of it, welcome to the story of the world’s first recycled stone!
.jpg?fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&auto=format&w=720&h=479&fm=webp&q=70&fit=crop)
What is World Environment Day?
5 June is the date each year when World Environment Day is marked and serves as a moment to stop, regroup and focus on the health of our planet. It was introduced by the United Nations in 1972 and continues to gain importance with every year that passes. It is, after all, no secret that we are reaching a critical point and that we must all be proactive in safeguarding Earth and its precious resources.
Respect for the environment and a commitment to protecting it are themes that we have long held dear at Salvatori, going right back to the Seventies when then-CEO Alfredo Salvatori invented a system to recycle the water used in cutting stone. The result was not only a saving in water usage, but also a positive impact on the river ecosystem due to the reduction in debris that found its way into the water. Since then, the CEO may have changed, as Alfredo passed the baton on to his son Gabriele, but consideration for the environment remains one of Salvatori core values.
Which leads us neatly to Lithoverde® and the story behind its invention.
.jpg?fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&auto=format&w=720&h=960&fm=webp&q=70&fit=crop)
Lithoverde®: the story behind this revolutionary green texture
As we said above, Lithoverde® is something we are incredibly proud of. It represents the apex of sustainable design and is completely recycled. The name is a perfect description as litho is the Greek word for stone, while verde means green in Italian, combining to mean “green stone”. Like the legendary phoenix, stone rises from the ashes to take on a brilliant new life.
Gabriele Salvatori came up with the idea for Lithoverde® in 2009 when he was searching for a way to reuse all the beautiful stone offcuts that were simply being thrown away. While the Lithoverde® we know today is highly versatile, simple to install and aesthetically pleasing, it was a long process to get to this place and involved extensive attempts to find the right formula and format to create a product that could combine both function and form.
The initial idea was to create slabs by taking offcuts of stone of all sizes and shapes, recutting them into smaller rectangles and gluing them onto a wooden surface. Sadly, however, it just wasn’t quite right, and after numerous attempts, we had our lightbulb moment. Instead of constructing slabs, why not build a new block and then cut it into slabs from there?
And so, we found our magic formula. We layer up our offcuts, combining different thicknesses and dimensions, to create a block, suck all the air out and inject a soy-based resin which fills any gaps and binds all the pieces together. In terms of ratio, each block is 99% made up of recycled stone and 1% of natural resin.
Tenacity gets you there in the end, and Lithoverde® and Lithoverde® has also obtained certification from SCS (System Certification Services), one of the world’s leading independent certification bodies when it comes to environmentally-friendly practices. It also contributes to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) points and is recognised by the U.S. Green Building Council with one of the highest ratings available.
Last but not least it has won a number of awards, but what we love most about it is the fact that it shows that with imagination and determination you can create sustainable products without compromising aesthetics, and vice versa.
Faithful to the DNA conceived by patron Gabriele Salvatori, our company lives sustainability with an eye towards revolutionary solutions.
We take a look at some of the measures we take to help protect our precious planet and create a greener business model.
