Green Flooring Materials
- Bamboo is a large, fast-growing grass and is a renewable resource that is annually harvested on a selective basis. Because of its quick growth, bamboo used to make flooring is replenished in two to three years. Hardwoods such as maple or oak can take 20 or more years to reach maturity for harvesting. Many bamboo suppliers use Asian-based bamboo, which requires a lot of transportation and makes it harder to verify whether the material was harvested sustainably.
- Linoleum is not vinyl. Whereas vinyl flooring is petroleum-based and chemical-laden, linoleum is natural and made from flax seeds and other sustainable materials. To make linoleum, linseed oil processed from flax is mixed with a number of other reclaimed materials, including ground sawdust, powdered cork, pine resin, ground limestone, pigments and zinc.
Linoleum is durable (it lasts four to five times as long as vinyl) and biodegradable. But linoleum is more expensive than vinyl, starting at about $4 per square foot as of April 2010, compared with vinyl, which starts at about $2 per square foot. - As recently as 2002, most carpeting was not considered green because much of it contained VOCs and toxic materials that off-gassed into your home over time. Since 1992, when the Carpet and Rug Institute developed the Green Label carpet program, some manufacturers have shifted to low-emitting carpets, rugs and cushions. Some new carpets also are made of recycled materials such as soda bottles and other carpet scraps.
- Although stone is nonrenewable, it can often be locally sourced and, depending on the type and use, can last in your home for centuries--if your home lasts that long. This makes it a viable green flooring material vs. manufactured tiles. But stone is heavy, and the cost of transportation in terms of emissions can affect its sustainability. That's particularly true for desired stones such as limestone, granite, slate or marble. Since stone, however, will likely last longer than other flooring, the environmental effects of quarrying and transporting it are reduced over time.
- In an older home, under carpet or tile, you may find wood flooring that simply needs sanding and staining or resealing. Use a low-VOC stain or sealant when treating the floors to assure that the chemicals will not off-gas. By refinishing instead of replacing, you reduce your remodeling waste. Alternately, you may be able to find recycled flooring at building-materials recycling stores or a building reclamation store.
Other options include buying wood flooring certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which certifies that the wood was sustainably harvested in a managed forest and that the material isn't endangered. You also could consider an engineered floor, with a thin veneer of the desired wood attached to a plank made of a fast-growing tree.