Eco-Friendly Green Flooring Options
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Cork flooring is a renewable resource and great green flooring option. Photo: Flickr, kpwerker
1. Bamboo
Unlike hardwood trees requiring decades to grow to maturity, bamboo is a grass that grows to maturity in less than six years and is continually harvested over and over from the same plants. Check out various bamboo flooring products right here.
2. Cork
The bark of the cork oak tree is removed without destroying the tree and can be harvested year after year. Unlike vinyl and other synthetic materials, it does not release toxic fumes. Cork flooring is durable, easy to maintain, anti-static, noise absorbent, lightweight, rot resistant, compresses and expands and is fire resistant. Because of its insulating properties, cork is fantastic over concrete slabs or other cold subfloors. Check out various cork flooring products right here.
3. Reclaimed Wood
Reclaimed wood flooring has character, beauty, and the durability of old-growth wood without removing any living trees. Most reclaimed wood comes from barns, warehouses, and mills from the late 1800's. Check out various reclaimed wood flooring products right here.
4. Pebble Tile
Most pebble tiles are sustainably harvested in Indonesia, taking care not to strip the river eco-system. Pebble tiles take less energy to produce than most ceramic tiles, and installation and grouting is like standard tile. Check out various pebble tile products right here.
5. Marmoleum Click
Marmoleum Click is an ecologically produced, natural linoleum with a cork backing layer. Installation is a cinch since the tiles "click" together into place. Check out various Marmoleum Click products right here.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Martin 11-03-2009 @ 1:47AM
I'm glad to see that you have included pebble tile along with the other green flooring options.
A company in Vancouver, Canada produces and imports an Indonesian pebble mosaic that has been awarded the respected Environmental Choice Program, EcoLogo Certification for the environmental integrity of their products and the social responsibility of their trade and employment policies.
The stones they use in their products are hand harvested under strict licensing criteria from beaches formed and sustained by a specific set of geomorphic conditions. Many Indonesian rivers have their source in coastal mountain ranges. Steep gradients and high water volumes erode mountain sides and transport enormous amounts of stone as bed load to the ocean.
Each year, millions of tons of stone with a variety of mineral components are deposited at river mouths and transported for miles along the shore by constant wave action. This process called long shore transport, performs a tumbling and polishing function on a massive scale. This giant natural conveyer belt lubricated with fine particles of rock dust, constantly replenishes the beach face with each new wave.
From hundreds of new stones cast along the shore line with each new wave, workers select only those with the size, shape and color suitable for the finished hand crafted mosaic.
Within days of a crew working a beach, the amount of stone they removed will have been replaced and brought back to its previous state within hours of a storm event. The hands only method of harvest and the small amounts of stone taken, pose no threat of erosion or disruption of wildlife habitat.
As long as there are mountains and rainfall in Indonesia, there will be a constantly renewed supply of beach stone. Where fire, disease, insects, soil nutrient depletion and land use conflicts can effect the sustainability of a bamboo source, nothing short of an ice age will halt the supply of new beach stone.
Look up "Nusantara Stone Mosaics" for more info on them.
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Crystal Westley 11-13-2009 @ 2:55PM
I went to my local Home Depot and found some beautiful polished and unpolished pebble tile made by Solistone.com
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