Does Green or Sustainable Floor Covering Exist?
An absolute frenzy of remodeling is happening across the country. Homeowners are tallying up their accounts and finding that adding value to their homes is essential. One of the first things homeowners upgrade is their flooring. When homeowners consider anything to do with floor covering, most opt for green or sustainable flooring. Dealers are aware of this trend, stocking and recommending green flooring options. What we want to do is educate the general public to the advantages and virtues of using green and sustainable materials in their homes.
Virtues of Sustainable Flooring
It’s hard to avoid the avalanche of information that is the Internet. As a result, most everyone is aware of the off-gassing, toxic chemicals used in manufacturing and the piling up of trash dumps when remodeling time comes regarding flooring. It will be to the relief of many to know that sustainable flooring has two virtues. The first is the tax incentives make owning sustainable flooring a more affordable venture. The second is that it is secured using water-based adhesives instead of adhesives containing volatile organic compounds or VOCs. Many floors are laid using the “floating” method, in which the material is not secured but allowed to expand and contract according to the humidity in the room. Homeowners may be secure in the knowledge the baby and the puppy can play on the same floor without adverse health consequences from off-gassing.
Advantages of Green Flooring
They’re green, host bird nests, give us branches for tire swings and shade the house in the hottest parts of the day. They also contain a root system that keeps the soil stable. They process oxygen for us to breathe, releasing the resulting carbon dioxide in which the dioxide part helps lessen the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. They are trees. Unfortunately for the human race and the green spaces, they are being used at an unconscionable rate for hardwood flooring. The cutting of trees provides farmers with land to plant, loggers and paper mills with jobs, plus the food industry needs the land for raising meat and dairy herds. It’s a terrible, terrible Catch-22 when such necessary things like jobs and life mean the loss of the very things that give us that job and life.
One: One of the major advantages of green flooring is that sustainable forests have been planned for and growing for a long time now. They are being responsibly harvested and sustainably grown all over the world.
Two: Reusing and recycling flooring materials means that no new manufacturing processes, transportation or installation methods are fouling the atmosphere. Reused and recycled materials are now being manufactured using less traditional or entirely green power sources and installed in such a way as lessens the carbon footprint.
Three: Many materials used in sustainable flooring such as the burlap backing on linoleum, the fibers in bamboo flooring and other natural materials have the inherent ability to repel moisture, be fireproof, are anti-bacterial and anti-static.
Four: It is a statistically proven fact that allergy sufferers, asthmatics and those suffering other illnesses are much less distressed when living with green flooring.
Five: Hard floors like stone and tile accept small feet stomping in frustration, running feet and chasing paws as well as the odd aerobic workout with aplomb. Dust, dirt and pet hair have to work harder to upset homeowners with hard floors.
Examples of Sustainable Flooring
Yes, green flooring does exist. The Internet has probably informed homeowners that bamboo, vinyl and cork are types of green flooring. Did you know, though, that linoleum is made of sawdust, tree resins and burlap backing? It is hard and comes in dozens of pretty colors and patterns. Did you also know that rubber flooring is forever sustainable and not only to be found in gyms? Want it to look like hardwood for the formal living and dining rooms? Not a problem. Would you rather it look like linoleum tiles for the kitchen? We gotcha covered, please pardon the pun. It can even look like textured stone. Homeowners’ only problem will be choosing between so many exciting possibilities.