Environmentally Friendly Flooring
The best news is that making green choices for your home does not have to compromise your taste. Green is definitely sexy! If the time has come to replace your existing flooring or you are building a new home it is also time to consider the best options for an environmentally friendly design project.
Tips for purchasing an eco-friendly floor
Some flooring materials are built specifically to be more environmentally conscious and others try but do not necessarily meet the green standards. If you have your heart set on having a particular flooring material for your home that is not an ideal ecological choice there are some things you can do to reduce your footprint.
- Hardwood flooring can absolutely be an environmentally friendly floor so long as the wood is sustainable and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. To make it even more eco-friendly purchase domestic hardwood rather than exotic hardwood to save the energy and fuel consumption used in the transportation of such wood.
- When purchasing a flooring product try and purchase from a manufacturer who is located less than 500 miles from your home.
- Only purchase wood based flooring that is certified by the FSC.
- Demand that your eco-floor and any adhesives or finishes associated with it are within the German E1 Class of emission standards or have a very low VOC emission.
- Try to purchase a flooring material that does not require glue. If it does require glue or adhesives make sure they are a natural based product or that they fall within a very low VOC emission standard.
For more information regarding environmental product standards, guidelines and certification please use our resource pages located on the left navigation bar!
