R is for Recycled Lobster Rope Mats | No better way to say “welcome to my home”.

A recycled lobster rope doormat has been on my wish list for years. I love the ingenuity of their evolution. When federal regulations banned the use of float rope by Maine lobstermen, due to issues with whale entanglement, they had to switch over to sink rope and retire the float rope. While the rope could have ended up in a landfill, instead it became the manufacturing material for a new line of products.

While it’s still possible to find recycled versions of the float rope doormat, there are also other companies that now manufacture them using new rope opening up more tailored designs and colors. They are wonderful, but I prefer the environmentally friendly nature of recycling the used float rope.

I think one of the reasons that I hadn’t purchased one yet is because of my indecision over what color to buy. They come in every conceivable color combination. I pinned a red, white and blue one on the first board I ever created in Pinterest but I wasn’t sure on the color. Did I want to commit to something that in my mind connected mainly to July 4th and might not be as festive during other months? Silly, I know, but it kept the purchase at bay for years.

I also considered going with a solid color, or a neutral like gray, that would complement my house color but do I really want something neutral? I already have a deep gray Waterhog Doormat from LL Bean for my front entrance that I love. I’ve gone neutral before but this new doormat is made from recycled lobster rope. It’s probably okay to liven things up a bit.

Even writing this post, and committed to buying a mat, I had to sleep on it before (drum roll please), I finally purchased a rainbow multi-colored one. It probably speaks to the other spectrum of my indecision. If I can’t pick a color, I might as well pick them all.

The industry has been around for about twenty years now, so there are lots of options out there when picking your recycled doormat. Here are a few sites that I came across that carry the recycled float rope doormats:

Stern Lines
Maine Rope Mats
Cape Purpoise Trading Company
Maine Float-Rope Company
Lisa-Marie’s Made in Maine

In the end, I purchased mine from Stern Lines. They are one of the newer companies, founded in 2012. All the sites had great options and wonderful stories but a couple of things stuck out for me with Stern Lines –

  • They recycled both the old float rope as well as the new sink rope which moving forward makes sense. While float rope has been retired, the newer sink rope has a usage expiration too and will eventually end up in landfills if we don’t re-purpose it.
  • They work direct with multiple lobstermen in Maine. My guess would be that many of the others do as well, but I liked that it was made clear on their site.
  • They are a member company of 1% for the Planet committed to donating at least 1% of their profits annually to sustainable initiatives. So, my purchase is a double win for helping out the environment.
  • They make other products with the rope besides doormats including Christmas garland, coasters and dog toys.

It seems silly that this purchase took me so long to finalize, but I’m glad I finally have my “new” doormat. Not only does it look fabulous in front of my door, but I know it’s going to last. It survived life off the Maine coast for years. I’m sure it can handle a few muddy shoes.

What is the most interesting thing you’ve seen made from recycled items?

things to know
Company Stern Lines
Location Kittery, Maine
Phone (207) 467-5106
Website Stern Lines
Favorite ♥ Recycling Lobster Rope

WIM Signature

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38 thoughts on “R is for Recycled Lobster Rope Mats | No better way to say “welcome to my home”.”

  6. slfinnell says:
    Reply

    You may know of The Tightwad Gazette? They were one of the first books gifted to me from a daycare mom and it was written by a New England lady named Amy Dacyczyn. I went and ordered the 2nd and 3rd sequels back then and still keep them in my book collection. Your neck of the woods does pretty good at making bank on this upcycling 🙂 We hillbillies just do it and it’s called being a redneck lol

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Louise says:
    Reply

    Okay – I love this idea! And you selected a beautiful mat. The other bit I caught which I liked is the 1 percent donation to sustainable projects. I see a lot of companies making commitments like that and wonder if there are any brought studies on the overall impact companies all together have through doing this – both quantitative as well as qualitative in directing consumers to more environmental choices.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Weekends in Maine says:
      Reply

      I think (completely subjectively) that companies are beginning to see the value in sustainable and environmentally friendly policies. I would think we will continue to see a large impact from this. Again, just an opinion but a hopeful one especially today for Earth Day.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Louise says:

        I agree that companies are beginning to see the value and so wonder at the power in that to change consumer behaviour on a large scale. I may need to spend some time looking into it further because I can’t imagine there’s nothing written on it. And yes! Have a wonderful Earth Day!

        Liked by 1 person

  15. Tamara says:
    Reply

    I love upcycling, so creative and environmentally friendly!
    Good thinking of going for ALL the colors 😉
    Personally I think there is nothing wrong with blue, white, red all year long. You could have gone for seasonal mats, though: one for spring, one for summer, …

    Liked by 1 person

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