Green Flooring Options
If you are building a house, or remodeling, it is a great time to explore green options, including your flooring. Green flooring is never "no impact" or "zero emissions," but choosing a green flooring does reduce impact on the environment.
When it comes to choosing green flooring, you have many different options, which compare to traditional flooring. These include: carpet, carpet tiles, carpet padding, cork floors, bamboo floors, linoleum, leather tiles, wood floors, natural fiber, rubber tiles, limestone composite tiles and more.
How you decide to choose a floor may depend on your design aesthetic, as well as where you plan on having the green flooring. But it is also important to consider the "greenness" of your flooring option as well, as some may be more eco-friendly than others.
For example, while green carpet options are made from natural or recycled fibers, synthetic carpets are made from petroleum, a nonrenewable resource. Bamboo is one of the latest buzzwords in green flooring, because it comes from a renewable source. However, they come from Asian forests, which may eventually result in deforestation and also require a lot of transport to get from there to here, resulting in lots of emissions.
For more pros and cons and green flooring options, visit The Green Home Guide for an easy to read chart.
photo: hottholler
