by Laura M. Litvan

About the author: Laura M. Litvan is a former senior writer for the monthly magazine Nation's Business.

Aquapore Moisture Systems Inc. seems appropriately based in Phoenix, the Arizona city named after the mythological bird that arose from its ashes: The goods that roll off Aquapore’s production lines are made from recycled scrap materials.

The 130-employee company makes a variety of garden hoses from worn-out tires, and this use of these recycled materials has helped Aquapore products wind up on the shelves of environmentally conscious retailers such as Home Depot.

Moreover, in 1992 the company decided to take its commitment to recycling an important step further by forming a team of employees to fashion a comprehensive in-house recycling program. Today that program touches everything from white office paper to large clumps of rubber scrap that were once discarded...