Responsible Hardwood Flooring

Hardwood flooring is one of our favorite things in the whole world.  The beauty, timeless appeal, visual warmth, and durability makes it a great choice in almost any setting. The problem we run into when dealing with hardwood companies, is the environmental impact that logging has on the forests.

Eucalyptus Wood

One of the products that we believe in is called Lyptus, a eucalyptus product.  This product comes from a partnership between Weyerhaeuser, Fibria, Cerflor, and the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).  Lyptus features a rich grain that is versatile enough to take a wide range of stains and finishes – for a lighter or darker look to complement nearly every décor.  Best of all, Lyptus hardwood flooring is competitively priced and comes from non-tropical, certified plantations from fast-growing eucalyptus trees that are ready to be harvested within 14 to 16 years of planting.  In contrast, tees in temperate forests may take 80 to 100 years or more to mature.

Fast Growing and Sustainable

As previously stated, Eucalyptus trees grow quickly and can be harvested within 14-16 years of planting.  In addition to this quick turn around, these plantation trees are manually pruned during their growing years, ensuring that the logs coming into the mill are uniform and have few knots.  This results in a high conversion rate of logs to clear lumber, minimizing waste.  Weyerhaeuser mills use virtually every portion of the log, converting it to lumber and other usable by-products (residuals are used as bio-energy for the kiln drying operations).

One acre of planted eucalyptus can produce about the same volume of wood as 30 acres of native forest, which means that, for every acre of forest that Fibria plants, 30 acres of native forest are preserved.  On top of that, Fibria works to introduce original species, native to the area over 100 years ago, back into the ecosystem in South America.

Lyptus® Flooring Products

Lyptus solid hardwood flooring is harder than oak, less expensive than walnut, and as beautiful as Brazilian cherry. Available unfinished or in six pre-finished colors, it complements the most stylish interiors.  Its tongue-and-groove construction, natural hardness, and aluminum-oxide finish yield long-standing durability, while its low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) levels makes it a healthier choice for your household than many other flooring options.

Lyptus is also available in 3 ¼" and 5” wide engineered flooring –perfect to withstand the moisture changes of the dry Colorado air.

For more information or to get a quote on Lyptus® Flooring Products

Call US Floors Direct, Inc. at (719) 325-7539

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")