Eco-Friendly Flooring for a Green Home
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Time to read 5 min
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Time to read 5 min
We hear a lot of buzz about sustainability and eco-friendly products, but what does it really mean? To take an in-depth look at “green”, there are a lot of factors to consider, from impact on the global environment to the potential effect on you and your family. We must delve more than the immediate answers into the impact of harvesting and utilizing resources.
The idea of an eco-friendly flooring product, or really any product in any industry, must be thought of as being on a spectrum when it comes to how green it is. Put another way, there are some aspects of green to be found in a wide range of flooring products , with some types of flooring being associated with more of those aspects than others. It often depends on the circumstances, or even the location of where the flooring is being installed.
Wood of any kind is a sustainable resource, due to durability and the ability to replace what was used. In fact, using a one-to-one comparison, a good quality hardwood floor can easily last for a hundred years or more, the time it takes to re-establish the same old-growth resource ready for harvest. The problem lies not in using wood for flooring, but in irresponsible management of forests, or the triumph of greed over common good. Poor environmental planning in the past has led us to the brink of crisis. Ecosystems depend on trees, and deforestation threatens some of the most delicate and vital ecosystems on the earth, like the rainforests that produce an estimated 40% of the oxygen we breathe and provide homes for thousands of species.
Today, legitimate logging operations have embraced environmental issues. They are using responsible practices to maintain healthy forested areas with diverse growth capable of sustaining the ecosystem, but illegal deforestation is still commonly practiced in many countries. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) estimates that 50% of imported U.S. hardwood originates from illegal – and environmentally devastating – logging practices. This wood is cut in one country, often the tropics, Africa, Russia, or Southeast Asia and exported to another, often China, to be processed before import to the U.S.
Recently, the Lacey Act was amended making it illegal to import, sell and purchase illegally sourced timber and wood products, including wood flooring.
The most significant thing to consider from both a global and a personal perspective is the emission of greenhouse gases. Some floor products contain chemicals that are dangerous to the environment and potentially dangerous to your family. Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, are chemical compounds commonly found in flooring materials, adhesives and finishes. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that the air inside homes typically contains up to 5 times more VOCs than the air outside.
Some VOCs are suspected or confirmed carcinogens and have been proven to cause allergic reactions or respiratory complications. Symptoms of exposure include irritation of eyes, nose and throat, headaches, nausea, allergic skin reaction, fatigue, dizziness, and loss of coordination. Serious reactions can include damage to the liver, kidneys, and the central nervous system.
If you’re having a new floor installed, ask about the products and request those with the least VOCs, then make sure your house is well ventilated during and for a few days after the installation, just to be sure. Children are most vulnerable, so if your child complains of headaches or shows any other kind of reaction, consider staying elsewhere until the installation is complete, and the house is aired out.
The good news is that consumers can impact the market and positively influence the environment by choosing eco-friendly flooring and other products made from sustainable and environmentally friendly materials. Consumers drive the market, and you can use your dollars responsibly to cast a vote for a better environment for your family and for the earth.