Are you looking for ways to make your home more eco-friendly? Flooring is a great place to start when it comes to making responsible and sustainable choices for your home. Not only does environmentally friendly flooring look beautiful in any room of the house, but it’s also an affordable way to help reduce your carbon footprint.
Let’s explore what makes a floor environmentally friendly, as well as some of our top picks when choosing eco-conscious flooring for your home.
Understand what it means to be environmentally friendly
Understanding what it means to be environmentally friendly can help us make conscious decisions that benefit us and our planet. Green flooring typically consists of reused or recyclable materials (like bamboo or cork), so you can feel good knowing that it won’t create a dangerous amount of waste.
When looking for environmentally friendly flooring, look for the following:
- Durability: Durable floors last longer, resulting in less waste over time.
- Place of origin: When possible, look for options with domestically sourced materials. Domestic materials mean a lower shipping carbon footprint.
- Recyclability: Once your flooring has reached the end of its natural life, look at what materials are used in its construction and if they can be recycled.
- Recycled content: How much of the flooring is from recycled content like bottles, wood, and rubber?
- Raw materials: These materials comprise the flooring primarily or partially composed of renewable natural resources like bamboo.
- VOC levels: Volatile organic compounds are chemicals put off by industrial manufacturing that can be harmful in high concentrations. Look for zero or low-VOC flooring.
- Certification: The flooring you’re choosing certified green by a reputable third party.
Hardwood
Look for domestic hardwood flooring like ash rather than imported. Domestic hardwood is often less expensive and limits pollution caused by transport. To ensure the sustainability of your hardwood flooring, look for certification from the Forest Stewardship Council and the National Wood Flooring Association’s Responsible Procurement Program
Solid hardwood flooring can last for decades, given the proper care. Solid hardwood flooring from as far back as the sixteen- and seventeen-hundreds in the United States are still being used today!
Bamboo
Bamboo is a highly-renewable flooring material, given its fast growth rate of five years and durability- it has been used for construction for centuries in many countries worldwide with great success. Its wear-resistant nature makes it a practical and hardwearing material.
When choosing hardwood, remember that it often needs to be imported.
Cork
Cork flooring is an excellent choice for a long-lasting and sustainable flooring solution. It not only provides support and comfort for all types of foot traffic, but it is also a great way to have an eco-friendly lifestyle. With its natural look and sound absorption qualities, cork flooring has been around for decades, providing people with a unique alternative to traditional hardwoods and carpets.
Stone
Consumers should consider using stone for its many great features when searching for eco-friendly building materials. Not only is stone naturally beautiful with its varied shapes and hues, but it will last much longer than materials commonly used in construction.
And since the material is minimally processed, you don’t have to worry about the presence of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) that can aggravate allergies and cause other health problems due to their toxicity. Stone has been used in homes and buildings since ancient times, making it an ideal choice for anyone who wants to construct a sustainable home without compromising aesthetics.
Consult with the experts at Carpet Creations St. Louis
Whether you’re interested in hardwood or tile, there are plenty of options for environmentally-friendly materials that fit within virtually any budget.
Our team provides personalized advice and guidance on the type of flooring most suits each unique situation and lifestyle. With Carpet Creations St. Louis, you will be confident in the knowledge that you are making a conscientious decision that looks great and will last for years to come!