Tips Reference

Green Flooring: Lots of Choices

Posted on 29. Mar, 2009 by Mark Coleman in Around the Home

Have you been thinking about replacing your old floor coverings with eco-friendly materials? Are you building a new house and want to keep it green? Then here are some facts that will help you make the best flooring choices for environmentally friendly products for your home.

If you love the look of wood floors, you can use sustainably harvested wood. Look for products that have been certified by The Forest Stewardship Council. The FSC certification requires that wood products come from forests that meet strict standards. For example, the forests must preserve old-growth trees, minimize the use of chemicals, and prohibit the use of GMOs (genetically modified organisms). One of the most popular sustainable hardwood flooring products today is Brazilian Cherry, which has a rich natural color and distinctive grain. So you don’t have to sacrifice beauty for ecology.

Cork flooring is not only environmentally sound, but it’s healthy, too. The cork material comes from renewable bark that is harvested from the tree without harming it. The bark itself has natural anti-microbial properties that help keep the interior of your home free from harmful bacteria. On top of al that, cork has a warm look and a more comfortable feel underfoot than tile flooring or even carpeting laid over a concrete slab. It comes in tiles or planks, and is less expensive than hardwood flooring.

Bamboo flooring comes from a highly renewable source, since bamboo plants are fast growing. It’s a very durable material that can last for the lifetime of a home. It’s similar to hardwood flooring in terms of maintenance, and can also be stained and sanded. One word of caution, though. It’s not automatically green just because it’s bamboo. The laminating process requires using adhesives, and some of them contain formaldehyde. So it’s important to read the manufacturer’s label to make sure that the bamboo flooring you buy was processed using safe materials.

Carpeting can be very eco-friendly when it’s made from good quality recycled materials. When reading the label, you’ll want to make sure that the carpeting has “low off gassing” or “low VOCs”. This means that the product will not be emitting gasses into your home that can irritate your eyes and lungs after you install it. The highest quality recycled material comes from post-consumer PET resins (Polyethylene terephthalate). This means that the materials come from recycled beverage containers, which have to meet high quality standards in the first place.

Recycled carpeting is stain and soil resistant and comes in a wide variety of rich, fade-resistant colors and a variety of textures. Make sure to also use green carpet padding. Again, look for the lowest VOC ratings for off gassing, and the highest quality of recycled materials. You’ll stay healthier, your home will have cleaner air, and you’ll be saving hundreds of beverage containers from the landfills.