Other Eco Friendly Flooring Options
So, you want new flooring in your home, and you want to make an eco friendly flooring choice.
Having looked at bamboo flooring in my previous article, you know that bamboo flooring isn’t perfectly eco friendly, but it is an option to consider.
Which Floor?
When choosing a new floor, you need to look at all the options, and then decide which is the most eco friendly for you – for your location, your particular circumstances, and your budget.
So, together with bamboo flooring, you could also consider these other popular flooring options, and I’ll give you the low-down on how eco friendly they each are.
- Wood flooring
- Cork
- Linoleum
- Tile
- Carpets
- Stone
- Earth
- Cement
Wood Flooring
Wood flooring (hardwood floor) looks lovely, is easy to clean and is better for allergy sufferers than carpets for example. Of course it comes from trees. You can help to mitigate this problem by choosing FSC-certified flooring or by using flooring made from recycled wood. Often, old houses being remodelled throw away their old hardwood floors, or old barns are demolished, and there are contractors who specialize in supplying these. Reclaimed / reused wood brings instant character to your home, as well as protecting trees.
Hardwood flooring goes through a similarly intensive process to bamboo to change it into flooring. The difference between it and bamboo flooring is the transportation – find out where your wood came from. Fewer miles means more eco friendly, however, cutting down trees is not a good option unless it’s from a sustainably managed forest (FSC-certified).
Reduce: Refinishing your existing wood flooring is a very eco-friendly option, if it’s done with a non-toxic varnish. Refinishing requires no new wood or subflooring, no transportation, and very little energy.
Cork Flooring
Cork flooring is rapidly growing in popularity. It’s a renewable source because stripping the bark of the cork tree doesn’t kill it. Also, cork flooring is made from the waste material of the cork – the original material is used for the corks found in bottles, and the discarded material is then ground up to be used as flooring material.
Cork flooring is not totally green though. Most cork is grown in Mediterranean climates, so there’s the issue of transportation, and the cork is made into flooring pieces with glue which may contain formaldehyde.
It has a certain ‘bounce’ or cushioning when you walk on it. It can be laid in tiles which are glued down on top of a very level surface, or the tongue-and-groove version can be ‘floated’ on top of any existing surface. The air within the cork acts as a great insulator, so you could save money and use less resources if you combined cork as a finish as well as insulation. Cork is useful for sound resistance, and it is also partly fire-resistant and insect resistant.
Some people don’t like the look of cork. Also, high-heeled shoes, pet claws and furniture will damage it eventually, unless you cover it with a protective lacquer (normally not eco friendly). It will fade over time if exposed to sunlight regularly. It falls into around the same price range as wood and bamboo flooring.
Linoleum – Vinyl and Natural
Also known as ‘lino’, we had some in my home as a child, and I can’t say I liked it much. It was widely used in hospitals and I suspect I associate it with all the time I spent there.
It was well known for being an inexpensive way of covering high-traffic areas. It’s still popular in kitchens, because it’s water resistant and easy to clean, as well as providing a soft surface if you drop anything. It’s good for places with uneven surfaces – tiles, for example, might crack, but linoleum is very forgiving. And today you can get a great range of patterns which make it look much more attractive.
Nowadays, lino is mostly made from PVC (polyvinyl chloride), a plastic, made from petroleum. Most of it contains phthalates. When newly installed most vinyl will off-gas. It’s more fire-resistant than it used to be, but if it does burn, it’s toxic.
You can however now buy natural linoleum, which is made the same way as it used to be, namely with linseed oil (from flax seeds), wood and cork flour, and pine resin. So it’s more eco friendly than vinyl linoleum from that point of view, and it can be recycled and is biodegradeable. However, natural linoleum also off gasses when it’s installed – just different gases. If you are sensitive to linseed oil fumes, then avoid natural linoleum.
Natural linoleum lasts longer (30-40 years) than vinyl (10-20 years), but again, in homes people often change flooring before end of life. It’s not good with constant moisture so seal well if using in a bathroom or kitchen.
Next, I’ll outline how carpets and other types of flooring rate for eco friendly flooring options.
Related Articles:
Bamboo Flooring – is it REALLY eco friendly?
What about carpets and tiles?
And can stone or cement floors be eco friendly?
All about Bamboo
Bamboo Clothes – are you being Bamboozled?
The eco friendly bathroom
Bedroom lighting ideas
Light Bulb types
Dana Delany’s green renovations
Photo Credits:
Choices – hgtvremodels.com
Hardwood – homedit.com
Cork – realcorkfloors.com
Lino – wikipedia.com
Good tips on how yo evaluate the type of flooring best for use in homes etc.. Like the idea of natural linoleum for certain uses but bamboo still looks better to my eye.
[…] my next article, I’ll look at wood and other eco friendly flooring options, and see how they compare with bamboo […]
Like you, I’ve never been a fan of linoleum, even though it’s cheaper and easier to maintain. I’d never heard of a cork floor, so thanks for the informative article!
Michael
Thanks Michael!
[…] about wood, cork and lino […]
[…] alternatives include Bamboo and Cork – get a full eco friendly flooring option comparison […]
Thanks for the great article on how ecofriendly wood, cork and linoleum really are. It provided me with information I never thought of before.
[…] wood, cork and lino eco friendly flooring […]
[…] alternatives include Bamboo and Cork – get a full eco friendly flooring option comparison here – and of course, old wood salvaged from old buildings is also a great […]