This week, the environmental movement lost a champion: Ray Anderson, one of the country’s leading green industrialists, died Monday at the age of 77. The founder and chairman of Georgia-based carpet manufacturer Interface, Anderson came to his commitment to sustainability late in life, but went on to bring unparalleled energy and dedication to the cause. In 1994, he committed to the total transformation of his own company, turning away from a reliance on petrochemicals for a new business model based on recycled materials and renewable energy. Anderson also became a frequent and passionate speaker on sustainability, describing his own journey, and decrying the destructive effects of industry. “Theft is a crime,” he said in a 2009 TED talk. “And theft of our children’s future [will] someday be a crime.”

In that same presentation, he returned to an argument he often made: That green business is profitable business. “This dispels a myth about this false choice between the environment and the economy,” he said. “Our products are the best they’ve ever been, inspired by design for sustainability, an unexpected wellspring of innovation.”

An inspiring writer, Anderson leaves behind much more than words. His company exists as a living example of the tremendous environmental advances one dedicated person—and one business—can make. As one Interface employee writes on a blog set up to honor Anderson’s legacy, the entrepreneur didn’t just walk what he talked, “He was the walk.”