Just because coir mat production is sustainable, that doesn’t mean that it’s easy! Coir mats require a great of skill to create, and the process for retrieving and harvesting the coconuts themselves is laborious and time-consuming. The vast majority of the coconuts that are turned into coir are plucked by hand from coconut trees by climbers who ascend sometimes more than 80 feet up a tree’s trunk. Once a worker has reached the very top of the tree, they throw the coconuts down to the ground. Have no fear, though, this does nothing to injure the durable coconut. Workers additionally use a variety of natural ropes and tools to make their task easier. This level of dedication is representative of the sheer amount of sustainable thought and care that goes into the every stage of the coir doormat production process.

Interestingly, some coconut cottage plantations have begun using “hybrid” coconut trees. That is, coconut tree species that have been crossed with other variants to produce a tree that reaches, at most, a height of 50 feet. These “hybrid” trees more easily facilitate the collection of coconuts, shortening the amounts of time and effort required to retrieve them, and increasing the amounts of coir mats capable of being produced in any given period of time. Efficiency, safety and sustainability are perhaps the biggest concerns of any coir door mat manufacturer.

Once tossed down from the trees, coconuts are then gathered together in massive piles and transported by truck to the local workshops for the next steps of the coir doormat creation process. The immediate next step is generally the soaking of the coconuts for up to 8 months, a process known as “retting” that allows naturally occurring microbes to break down the coconut husking, making for easier husking, and overall more efficient coir mat production. The in-depth and laborious production of coir doormats is truly a marvel of sustainable dedication and care!