Dear Umbra,
If I have to replace my old carpet, what are the environmental pros and cons of the different choices? (Ceramic tile, carpet, or the laminate flooring sold at Home Depot seem to be the most common.) And can I recycle my old carpet?
Claudia Bloom
Mesa, Ariz.
Dearest Claudia,
I'm going to lay out all the flooring choices of which I'm aware, and I'll talk about some of them in depth in upcoming columns. In terms of your carpet, you might be able to recycle it or give it for reuse if it's not in bad condition. Call around to charity organizations, or check with manufacturers and your state about recycling it. You can search the web using terms like "carpet reclamation," or start your hunt with this handy handout from California.
Let sleeping dogs lie ... on a shiny,
new eco-floor.
Photo: iStockphoto.
You have your own aesthetic (and probably climatological) guidelines for choosing a flooring material, so perhaps ingredients to avoid would be a useful start. First: nothing vinyl, and that's final. Second: quite a few flooring products need adhesives, including carpet, laminate, and fake linoleum. These adhesives can include formaldehyde and those pesky volatile organic compounds, which we can and should avoid, so look into that as you shop. Any product will have a material safety data sheet, which you can peruse at your leisure on the internet.
We are all convinced that carpet is the only cuddly floor covering, but it does not get my imprimatur. After researching for a bit too long, I've become a big fan of cork. Much of the cork flooring available to us comes from well-managed plantations in Portugal, and sounds kind of dreamy: it's harvested, at sustainable intervals, off living trees, but the process does not harm them. Perhaps not appropriate for high-traffic areas, cork is definitely soft and warm to bare feet, as well as quite high in conversation value.
Then you've got your wood. If nice wood lurks under your carpet, please refinish and enjoy it. When you buy wood, look for the Forest Stewardship Council label or locally reclaimed products. Some companies refinish submerged trees and telephone poles and things like that; I think those woods would be considered OK. By the way, it's not necessary to pound nails into your subfloor for a wood product. There are "floating" floors that click together and lie atop it.
Bamboo is a wood-like flooring, imported but in some cases quite a good sustainable choice -- more on that in a coming column. Ceramic and/or glass tile is an excellent choice in most situations, simply because it lasts forever, and if you find locally made or partially recycled tile, that's even better. True linoleum is making a comeback. Vinyl has passed as linoleum for several decades, but the real stuff is a mixture of materials, usually wood, cork, pine resin, and linseed oil. The linseed oil can be a bit stinky, but the flooring will last and last. You could go wacky and put in an earthen floor. This choice sounds fairly amazing to me. Apparently it's a mix of soil, sand, and straw, pounded into place and then oiled. I want to see it.
An important part of your flooring hunt is to look beyond Home Despot. Like some of the other big-box stores, it does carry FSC-certified wood, so look into that -- but also see if you can buy locally. A green-building supplier is lurking near you, I just feel it. Scottsdale has a green building program. It looks like Arizona State University has been building a green research facility in Mesa -- holy cow, their web page also says it's currently 70 degrees. I am distracted with envy, and can no longer think about flooring.
Jealously,
Umbra
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Comments View as Flat
axis42 Posted 5:26 am
06 Feb 2006
Just put in bamboo
I just put in bamboo floors and let me say for the record that they are gorgeous, supposed to be long lasting and sustainable!
I went to the Environmental Home Center here in Seattle (environmentalhomecenter.com) and purchased EcoTimber Bamboo (ecotimber.com). They raise their bamboo on farms in China making it sustainable, and pay their employees fair wages, provide them with housing and health care and generally do things right. Look into them.
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misterjoshua Posted 6:59 am
06 Feb 2006
recovered hardwood
Recovered hardwood is another excellent ecologically sound flooring option, if you can find it in your area. Our kitchen and dining room floors were once in someone else's house, or possibly belonged to a recently-remodeled high school gymnasium. Either way, it's a very tight-grained oak that's all but impossible to come by these days, and it went into our house instead of the dump. The Rebuilding Center here in Portland is a great source for recovered materials from remodels and demolitions.
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jka123 Posted 8:02 am
06 Feb 2006
Interface FLOR
For our new office flooring we chose Interface FLOR as an environmentally sustainable choice that was more affordable than cork or bamboo. We've ordered it and it's ready to install as soon as the room is done. It looks like it will work as expected, although we don't have any personal experience with it yet.
The reasons we chose it were: 1) The company will take it back for recycling at the end of its lifecycle; 2) The tiles can be rotated for even wear and stained tiles can be replaced, making this a longer-lasting investment of resources; 3) It supports a company that is working to create an environmentally sustainable business model; 4) Some of the styles are natural materials; 5) Not to be overlooked is that it's stylish as well as sustainable-the only way to be successful; 6) It can be installed by the homeowner; 7) It can be moved from room to room or house to house, increasing its useful lifespan.
Hopefully, we've made a good choice - we'll see after we install it and live with it a few years!
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mfoley Posted 8:10 am
06 Feb 2006
cork foors
being Portuguese, I'm extremely happy to have you recognize how well we treat our trees!!!
It's all true.
I had cork floor for many years, and indeed it is very soft, comfortable and warm. However, being a dog lover, and having three - now, that one has unfortunately passed away -, I had to take it off and lay a new one, very cold and uncomfortable tiled one, but easy to clean.
Keep up the good work! I simply love your advice.
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pskidmore Posted 12:50 am
07 Feb 2006
bamboo floors - not what you hope they'll be
I also installed bamboo floors. Our local dealer in Seattle assured me they were twice, thats 2x, as hard as oak according to lab tests. Well I am here to tell you they are fragile, dent and scratch easily. Beautiful, yes, until you drop something on the floor. We have fir floors next to bamboo - no comparison, even the relatively soft fir is superior to the bamboo by far. Further evidence is my gym's yoga studio - bamboo floors - all scratched and dented. What could possible scratch and dent a yoga studio floor.
Think twice before you put bamboo in any areas where you will be active, or if you have a dog, or in any traffic areas.
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risinglucifer Posted 7:54 pm
05 Mar 2006
RE
Hmm, is bamboo flooring really that good? I didn't know that bamboo is
that sustainable. I'm using ceramic tiles by the way. Interesting tips on carpet flooring. Now, I'll know which best for me if I were to change my carpets.
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sido Posted 2:17 am
19 Dec 2007
sustainable floors and dogs
I know I'm replying to a few older posts, but the conversation is relevant to me.
I'm desperately looking to replace my carpet ... and have three dogs also...
What are some choices that are not only sustainable, but durable ... in addition to tiles?
THanks.
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