 When renovating and updating your home, eco-friendly options are plentiful, affordable, and beautiful, especially when it comes to floors and walls.
Eco-friendly floors can take on the look of any style and budget. Bamboo hardwood floors are a popular, stylish option. Bamboo grows up to four feet each day, making it incredibly sustainable. Make sure your bamboo comes from an accredited source, though, to ensure that it is harvested sustainably and without chemicals.
Reclaimed and sustainable wood floors are available, too. Reclaimed wood is made from structural beams and timbers that are obtained in warehouses and other factories prior to destruction. Sustainable wood comes from sustainably harvested forests, and can be a great option if you are set on having a specific kind of wood floor.
Cork floors are relatively new yet unique. Cork is harvested from a cork oak tree without the tree actually being cut down, and it regenerates itself within three years. Cork is an ideal option because it bounces back from furniture weight and insulates sound very well.
Certain linoleum floors are also eco-friendly. Linoleum is durable, biodegradable, and relatively cheap. Linoleum is also hypoallergentic and antistatic.
Another great green option is reclaimed, recycled, or sustainably harvested stone tiles. Stone works great with wet areas, like kitchens and bathrooms. Stone holds heat well, making it an ideal pair with radiant heating systems and natural lighting.
If you want carpet, opt for carpet made with natural fibers. Or, an even better alternative is to use area rugs made from bamboo. Installing carpet requires padding, insulation, and glues, whereas an area rug is transportable. Furthermore, eco-friendly area rugs are much easier to find than eco-friendly carpet and will cost significantly less.
Eco-friendly walls are easy and very chic. Vinyl-free, paper-based wallpapers are available in hundreds of patterns from companies like Mod Green Pod and Ollie and Lime. When paired with eco-friendly adhesives, your green walls will look beautiful and have little impact on the environment. You could even create your own wallpaper using starched tissue paper, recycled newspaper, or old cloth. Milk paints and low-VOC (volatile organic compound) paints are available, too, in every color imaginable.
Wall plasters are also available in the eco-friendly variety, and work great with walls that are already plastered or have slight imperfections. For added detail, consider using eco-friendly wall tiles, which come in all kinds of materials, from glass to cork and everything in between. Eco-friendly tiles are either reclaimed or sustainably made, making them an excellent green choice.
There are so many options when it comes to renovating your home and transforming it into a green haven. Many eco-friendly products are either the same price as traditional varieties, and in some cases, cheaper. In the end though, you’ll know that your carbon footprint and impact on the environment will be significantly smaller, thanks to your smart, green decisions.
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