You may have heard that soybeans can be used for a lot of things, but you probably didn't know that you may be walking on them everyday. Thanks to a partnership with the United Soybean Board (USB) and soybean checkoff, Universal Textile Technologies (UTT) has developed a new carpet-backing product for use in hotels, condominiums and other moderately trafficked areas.

The bio-based carpet backing offers such advantages as standing up to repeated wet cleanings as well as withstanding heavy furniture. In the past, carpet backing has largely consisted of petroleum-based material. But thanks to this technology, 90 percent of the petroleum in UTT's backing has been replaced with bio-based products.