Sustainable flooring is a phrase that has been around for a few years. It refers to flooring that is environmentally friendly. There are two key aspects to environmentally friendly flooring – the first is that it is made without damaging nature and without draining natural resources; the second is that it is healthy for the home. This post will look at a few different types of sustainable flooring
Bamboo Flooring
There are three types of bamboo flooring: vertical, horizontal and strand woven. The first two types refer to whether the bamboo is laid flat or on its end. Strand woven bamboo flooring is made from bamboo that is compressed with a low VOC adhesive. Strand woven bamboo flooring is the strongest type of bamboo flooring. It has a Janka Hardness rating of between 2,500 and 3,000 pounds force making it as hard as oak flooring. Bamboo flooring is light colored flooring that can be carbonized to darken the color. Bamboo flooring is remarkable in that it not only stops dust mites breeding but it is also antimicrobial, making it ideal for indoor air quality. Bamboo flooring is normally cheaper than hardwood flooring. It is also environmentally friendly because bamboo is the fastest growing plant that matures in just 7 years, and can obviously be grown to keep up with demand.
Reclaimed Hardwood Flooring
Hardwood trees take 60 to 120 years to reach mature. Ever second an acre and half of forest is chopped down. The great forests are the lungs of the world. This makes hardwood flooring far from sustainable. Somewhat better is hardwood flooring from sustainable forestry. Even better is reclaimed hardwood flooring. This is flooring made from hardwood that has been salvaged from building waste, demolished buildings, abandoned barns, old fencing, wine barrels and many other sources. There is no shortage of unwanted hardwood that can be sourced locally. This wood is kiln dried and cut into flooring planks. The advantage of reclaimed hardwood flooring is that it is recycling at its best. The flooring is also free of dangerous VOCs (they have off-gassed a long time ago) and has a rich patina from age. The problem with reclaimed hardwood flooring is that it often has worm holes, saw marks and other blemishes.
Cork Flooring
Cork is an excellent renewable resource because it comes from the cork oak bark. The cork oak takes 25 years to mature and then its bark can be removed without damaging the tree. The bark grows back in 12 years. This makes cork an ideal sustainable resource. Cork flooring is soft and light, and yet it is strong. It is composed of millions of air pockets that compress with weight and spring back when the weight is removed. Cork is also a good acoustic and thermal insulator that lowers heating bills and reduces noise. Cork flooring like bamboo flooring is excellent for the home because it is antimicrobial; moreover, cork flooring is fire retardant and water resistant. Cork flooring is one of the cheapest types of sustainable flooring and for people living in Europe it has a low carbon history due to the fact that nearly all the world’s cork comes from the Mediterranean area.
So if you are considering buying carpet think about the VOCs used in the backing of the carpet. Consider also the dust mites that breed in carpet. If you are considering buying hardwood flooring consider the damage it is doing to the environment. You might want to look at sustainable flooring instead.