Photo by Flor.com
Flor offers versatile non-toxic carpet tiles to suit any decor or need.
By Jenny Jedeikin
If you want to step lightly, your choice of flooring will make a huge impact, because it uses a large amount of materials. The greenest choice you can make, if you have a wood floor is to keep what is already there, using a non-toxic environmental stain to refinish if necessary, such as that made by
AFM Safecoat.
"If you can’t keep what exists already, cork is a great solution," says Zem Joaquin, green editor of
House and Garden magazine. Joaquin replaced old carpet in her children’s bedrooms with a blue cork floor for her son's room and a pink one for her daughter’s. "Cork reforests itself every six years, so it’s very sustainable and it’s a lot softer and warmer than a wood floor or tile." Click-together cork, which uses no toxic adhesives, can be assembled easily by anyone and laid out to float over other surfaces, such as old linoleum, cement and even carpet.
For those with wall-to-wall carpeting, if it’s wool and you can live with it, leave it. Otherwise, Greg Snowden of the Green Fusion Design Center, advises using modular carpet tiles instead of traditional wall-to-wall. Several eco-friendly companies, like
Flor and
Shaw carpet tiles, offer exceptionally cool products. These stylish squares use non-toxic dyes and are made from recycled materials, like recycled carpeting and bottles. "Carpet squares are a huge eco-improvement, because they’re modular," explains Snowden. "When you spill wine, you can remove an individual square to wash or replace it, and when you’re done with it, you can ship it back to the manufacturer to recycle. So, what’s good for you is good for the planet."
Plus, these squares involve little labor; they are easy to lay down by yourself, and do not need to be supported by toxic padding.
Provided by HGTV - http://www.hgtv.com
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