Green Flooring

Is it really good for the environment?

It seems like there is a new "green" flooring product released every week!  From recycled to sustainable, from hardwoods to manufactured goods; How do we know if they really are good for the environment?  (For our recommendations of products that are good for the environment in a tangible way, see "environment")

Hardwood

Bamboo and cork are all the rage.  Bamboo is much more durable, especially strand bamboo, and it grows to maturity at a fraction of the time!  But, it's harvested in China and transported across Asia using outdated engines with horrible gas mileage and terrible emissions.  Then, it has to be transported across the world on a cargo ship, many of which also have poor environmental standards (see also Hardwood Flooring Blog).  Cork flooring is harvested in Portugal.  Granted, it is mostly harvested and processed by hand, but it still has to be shipped.  Reclaimed lumber and sustainable logging projects are still our best bet for being good stewards over the environment.

Carpet

Carpet manufacturers have been using recycled materials to make carpets for years.  One example is carpet made from 100% post-consumer recycled food and drink containers (made with top quality PET, aka polyethylene terephthalate or PET Polyester Carpet, resins as required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration).  The downside is that PET Polyester is only good for medium-traffic applications, at best.   Shaw's Anso Nylon Carpet fibers contain recycled nylon and are recyclable.  To my knowledge, this is the only recycled nyloln.  Shaw claims that there is no difference in look, texture, or durability.  It's still too new to tell so,  nn my opinion, the the jury is still out.

Final Thoughts

When shopping for green products, it's best to pay close attention to how the product is made, how far it is shipped, and how long it will last.  We can learn a valuable lesson from the propaganda surrounding the Toyota Prius a few years ago.  Even though it gets great gas mileage, the environmental impact that the manufacturing process inflicted on the earth made it less environmentally friendly (when you add up the costs from production to disposal) than a Hummer H3.  Compact Fluorescent Lamps aren't as good for the environment as the government wants us to believe, either.

It turns out, "Green" is not as cut and dry of a concept as we all hoped it would be.  (See also: commentary on the environment by William Baldwin of Forbes)

For our recommendations of products that are good for the environment in a tangible way, see "environment")