Benefits of Eco-Friendly Flooring

If you want to enhance your home’s aesthetic while helping the environment, eco-friendly flooring is the perfect choice! In fact, it might even boost your resale value.

Sustainable products are produced from renewable materials and often contain recycled content or have a small carbon footprint. They are also healthier for you and your family to live and work with.

Eco-Friendly Materials

Many homeowners today choose to install eco-friendly flooring for various reasons. The benefits of these materials range from better indoor air quality to reduced carbon footprints.

The most common green flooring options include bamboo, cork, and recycled wood. All of these options provide environmental benefits and a stylish look for your home. However, there are a number of other eco-friendly materials that deserve your attention as well.

Besides these traditional options, a few newer environmentally friendly flooring materials have yet to become popular. Some of them, such as plant-based foam and mycelium, maybe a little unheard of, but they’re revolutionizing the way we think about building.

Bamboo, for example, is a fast-growing, renewable resource that does not require chemical treatment. It also helps fight climate change by absorbing carbon and sequestering it.

In addition, bamboo is a durable material that’s easy to work with and can be used in a wide range of spaces, including living rooms. It is also extremely affordable and can be dyed to match any design scheme.

Another eco-friendly option is laminate flooring, which uses a simple manufacturing process that doesn’t create a lot of sawdust. But this product also comes with some downsides. Formaldehyde is a binding adhesive that is often used in the production of laminate, and it can off-gas toxic VOCs.

Reclaimed wood, on the other hand, is a much more sustainable choice. This option reduces deforestation, minimizes wood waste, and reduces the amount of energy used in milling reclaimed wood. Reclaimed wood can also be finished with a non-toxic wooden finish, which helps reduce the number of VOCs in the space.

Engineered wood is another popular green flooring option, but it has its own sustainability concerns. For one, the trees that create this type of flooring grow faster than other hardwoods. But the trees used to make this type of flooring are less likely to be harvested sustainably, and they are often treated with pesticides or chemical solutions that release harmful VOCs.

Better Indoor Air Quality

The quality of the air in your home or workplace is affected by many things, but it’s especially important to pay attention to what you’re breathing through your floors. Whether walking across the floor or just moving around, flooring traps dust, pet dander, pollen, and even odors released from cleaning products or other sources into your lungs.

One of the best ways to improve indoor air quality is by using eco-friendly flooring. This will reduce your exposure to a number of chemicals, including VOCs, which can cause headaches and other health issues.

You can also make your floors greener by choosing flooring products made from renewable resources. These include wood, tile, and cork, all sustainable materials that do not require cutting down trees or burning fossil fuels to produce them.

Another way to make your floors more eco-friendly is to use nontoxic finishes and stains. For example, engineered hardwood and natural linoleum are great choices because they emit lower levels of harmful VOCs than most other flooring options.

Choosing low-VOC stains and sealants is particularly important for composite wood floorings, such as engineered hardwood, bamboo, and laminate. These can be applied during manufacturing and help reduce off-gassing from the product.

In addition, consider using low-VOC glue to install your flooring. Glues that are based on formaldehyde can be harmful to your health.

It’s also important to choose flooring that is easy to clean since it will need a lot of maintenance. Fortunately, eco-friendly flooring can be easy to clean with water-based cleaners.

Ceramic tiles, for example, are a durable and attractive option that can reduce your carbon footprint by requiring less cleaning than other flooring options. In fact, the GREENGUARD certification program lists them among the best choices for eco-friendly flooring.

The best part about these materials is that they are durable and easy to maintain. In addition, they can be easily recycled when finished in your space. With proper care, these types of floors can last a lifetime.

Reduced Carbon Footprint

Choosing eco-friendly flooring options can reduce the carbon footprint of your home or business. Several types of floors can be considered green, including bamboo, cork, and stone.

These floors are renewable and require less energy to harvest and manufacture. They also require less water and fertilizer to grow, which means fewer chemicals in the environment.

In addition to their environmental benefits, green floors are durable and long-lasting. They don’t need to be replaced as often, which cuts down on the waste created by replacing them every few years.

Tile is another flooring choice that’s considered a green option because it has a long life cycle and is made from reclaimed materials. It’s also easy to clean and maintain, eliminating the need for harsh chemicals.

Vinyl and linoleum are two other flooring choices that have been a favorite for many green homeowners because they can be easily recycled. Tarkett USA, for instance, works with its dealer network to collect and bring old vinyl flooring back to a warehouse for recycling.

Another benefit of choosing an eco-friendly floor is that it will not emit any chemicals into the air, so you won’t have to worry about lingering odors in your home. VOCs are toxic to the environment and can cause respiratory issues for those who breathe them in over a prolonged period of time.

Other ways to reduce your carbon footprint are by reducing the miles you drive each year and using public transportation when possible. The less you drive, the less fuel it takes to get around, so you’ll also save money on gasoline.

Wood is another popular choice for environmentally friendly floors because it uses fewer raw materials and requires less energy to produce. This makes it one of the most efficient and sustainable flooring products available.

However, choosing sustainable floors certified by a third-party organization, such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), is important. They ensure that the trees used to create the flooring are harvested sustainably. This is important because some hardwoods are harvested without a certification, which can lead to them emitting more VOCs into the air.

Longevity

Choosing sustainable flooring is an important part of your home’s eco-friendly design and can make a big difference to your environment and your family’s health. There are plenty of eco-friendly floor options, and it’s a good idea to consider several different types to find the one that works best for your space and your lifestyle.

A durable and low-maintenance option, laminate is an excellent choice for environmentally friendly flooring. It’s a wood-look alternative made to last for decades and is often less expensive than hardwood.

Cork and bamboo are also popular green flooring choices. They’re both fast-growing, renewable resources that have a much lower impact on the environment than cutting down trees.

Another environmentally friendly flooring option that’s often overlooked is concrete. While it’s typically considered a less eco-friendly alternative to hardwood, it can be a great option for those who want a more minimalist style.

Softwoods like pine and Douglas fir are another popular eco-friendly flooring option because they’re more sustainable than hardwood and can last for generations. But it’s important to check the wood’s origins, as some companies use wood treated with formaldehyde or sealants containing VOCs.

Ceramic and porcelain tiles are eco-friendly because they’re made from natural materials like clay. They’re also easy to clean and can be recycled at the end of their lifespan.

Linoleum is another popular eco-friendly flooring option made from a blend of linseed oil and other natural materials. It can be stained or painted to create a wide variety of looks and is a very versatile flooring material.

In addition to being eco-friendly, these floors can help keep your home’s indoor air clean and healthy. They’re resistant to mold and mildew and breathable, making them perfect for allergy sufferers.

Marmoleum, an extremely durable hard-surface floor, is also eco-friendly because it’s made from 97% natural and 72% renewable materials. It’s reportedly one of the greenest flooring options available.

Choosing an eco-friendly flooring option can be tricky, especially since it depends on many factors, from its manufacturing process to the transportation it undergoes to installation and disposal at the end of its life. But it’s a worthwhile endeavor.