Eco-Friendly Flooring Buying Guide

If you're planning to update your floor coverings or are choosing flooring for a new home, definitely check out the many eco-friendly flooring options on the market today.

Eco-friendly flooring uses recycled products, products less harmful to the environment, and/or is manufactured in a way that respects the environment. These "green" flooring options are not only environmentally-friendly, they also minimize indoor pollution, such as dust and allergens; and there are many budget-friendly choices as well. With so many options, eco -riendly flooring provides a responsible, healthy and stylish way to enhance your home.

Cork

Resilient cork flooring is made from the bark of cork oak trees. The cork is harvested every nine or ten years without harming the trees, which can live as long as 150 to 200 years, making cork an excellent sustainable floor choice. Its manufacturing process involves being molded, baked, cut, and varnished to create tiles and planks.

Cork is warm and gentle underfoot, mold, mildew, and pest-resistant, and is available in a wide variety of colors and natural patterns, including wine cork flooring (cross sections of wine bottle corks), mosaic cork flooring (pieces in an array of shapes and colors), and burled cork (a mottled pattern similar to burled wood).

Costs generally range from $3 to $6 per square foot with the more complex patterns falling to the higher end.

Read more:
Cork Flooring Buying Guide from FindAnyFloor.com
Cork from Eco-Friendly Flooring

Bamboo

Made from one of Earth's most rapidly-renewable resources, bamboo can be harvested every five to seven years and begins growing again immediately, without cultivation. Bamboo floors are made by cutting the bamboo into strips, which are then glued into boards and milled; it comes in many colors.

A concern with some bamboo flooring is that formaldehyde may be used in the laminating process, so when considering bamboo, look for a manufacturer that does not use any formaldehyde.

Read more:
Bamboo Flooring Buying Guide from FindAnyFloor.com
Buy Bamboo Flooring from Bamboo Flooring Biz
Bamboo from Eco-Friendly Flooring

Recycled Glass

For those who like the look of ceramics, granite and marble, but want a more environmentally-friendly alternative, recycled glass flooring is an excellent option. Recycled glass floors utilize glass that would otherwise end up in a landfill, recycling it to make tiles that come in a variety of colors.

Kind to the environment, as well as strong, durable, and attractive, recycled glass tile offers a winning combination of qualities. Installation and maintenance are much the same, including easy clean up and great stain and water-resistance.

Read more:
Recycled Glass Tiles from Eco-Friendly Flooring

Concrete

A great budget-friendly choice, concrete flooring allows you to use your concrete subfloor as your finished floor. Besides being cost-effective, and saving other resources, concrete can help with energy efficiency by absorbing heat from the sun and releasing it later to help heat your home.

If you're building new, consider a radiant heating system under your floors, which helps to evenly heat your home, and doesn’t use blown air to heat, which results in dirt and dust particles flying around.

Concrete flooring can be polished, painted or stained to match any style of decor, and it lasts virtually forever.

Read more:
Concrete Flooring Buying Guide from FindAnyFloor.com

Linoleum

Linoleum is made from biodegradable, all-natural materials, such as wood or cork powder, resins, pigments, and other materials combined with linseed oil. It's durable, easy to maintain, and hypoallergenic and resistant to rolling furniture so it's a great choice for a playroom or office.

If you're looking for linoleum, make sure you don't confuse it with vinyl.

Linoleum is available in many colors and offers a multitude of design options, such as inlays in various colors, forms and patterns reflecting the shape and use of a room.

Linoleum is affordable, with basic patterns ranging from $2 to $4 per square foot; multiple colors, borders, and other details will cost more - $10 or more per square foot.

Read more:
Linoleum Flooring Buying Guide from FindAnyFloor.com
Linoleum from Eco-Friendly Flooring

Reclaimed and Sustainable Wood

An option for those who really want hardwood floors is reclaimed wood or sustainable wood. Reclaimed wood floors uses wood taken from old homes, barns, and old bridges that's refurbished into hardwood floors. It often has nail holes and other imperfections, which add to the overall character of the flooring.

Sustainable wood is wood grown in managed forests; it's much more eco-friendly than other hardwood flooring options.

Read more:
Reclaimed and Sustainable Wood from Eco-Friendly Flooring

Green Carpet

Most carpet is made with unsustainable or non–renewable resources, such as nylon and polyester fibers, but there are some "green" fibers out there. Consider buying a carpet made from recycled nylon and polyester, or renewable materials like wool and cotton.

Quite popular in the design community are carpets made out of plant materials like jute, coir, sisal, and seagrass.

When selecting "green" carpeting, consider the backing and padding, which can also be made of recycled and/or sustainable resources.

For more information on eco-friendly flooring:

» Go Green Flooring
» Eco-Friendly Flooring
» U.S. Green Building Council Green Home Guide