Nurturing a Greener Future: What to Look Out For

The environment around us is alive and changing—whether for better or worse is not the point of this post. Yet, I think it is safe to say we all can agree that the environment itself changes because the world is full of living creatures, from plants to animals to humans, that do interact with one another in some form. With that said, there are individuals out there that want to be more aware of their interactions with the world’s ecosystem, and depending on their situation, finding eco-friendly and sustainable options of different aspects of their home may be on their mind. I write this for all of you—a guide with information talking about flooring options specifically and the industry’s impact on the environment.

Before exploring any type of flooring, there are a couple of notes I want to make clear beforehand to help you in your decision-making process. These notes are broad and not geared toward any specific type of flooring, but nonetheless, they need to be stated and taken into account when selecting flooring based on sustainability. And of course, regardless of what flooring option you end up choosing to purchase and install in your space, you should pick something that you are comfortable living with for the foreseeable future, something you are willing to invest your money in, and something you are confident in maintaining once everything is said and done. We want all of our customers to feel confident in their design choice and know what that design choice means for them in terms of aesthetics, finances, and maintenances—and sustainability can fit into any one of those categories.

Manufacturing and Shipping Considerations

My first note refers to the manufacturing processes and shipping distance. Depending on the type of material used for flooring, there may be products or procedures used that may harm the environment. Volatile Organic Compounds (or VOCs) are a good example of a negative that can come out of the manufacturing process. Think of when you paint a room, stain a block of wood, even the new car smell; those smells are VOCs, which are chemicals that can be emitted into the air at around room temperature and some of which affect indoor air pollution. Such chemicals may cause allergic reactions, various forms of irritation around the body, and even cause long-term effects as a person is exposed to the chemicals for a longer and repeated period of time. However, not all products contain VOCs or are in significantly smaller amounts, resulting in a much smaller impact on both a person and the environment. Depending on the manufacturer, there are flooring products with minimal to no VOCs, which means less people are affected from the manufacturing process itself and from the installation.

As for other eco-impacting affects of the manufacturing process, energy consumption can also be a major consideration. Some flooring options, such as bamboo and cork, can require more energy during the creation process, simply due to the nature of the material. With a higher energy requirement, some flooring options may not be as eco-friendly as they initially seem, but that can vary based on how the manufacturer receives power and more. Furthermore, flooring options like bamboo—a growing eco-friendly option—are relatively new in terms of western architecture and mass manufacturing production compared to hardwood, meaning new techniques could come about and reduce energy requirements for the manufacturing process.

Now, the shipping from the manufacturer to your home comes into play. For simplicities sake, we will say you place in an order to a flooring manufacturer for a palette-sized amount of LVP boards that will be delivered to your doorstep. There will not be any in-between stops between the manufacturers' warehouse to your home (which is not the usual case! There are usually stops along the way, and the flooring center you bought the product from may receive the shipment to then take to your home.) Of course, at this point, so many variables come into play. Are they manufacturing and therefore shipping locally? If the product isn’t local, is it domestic? Or are we expecting shipment to happen overseas? Naturally, the more the product has to travel, the greater the carbon foot-print the flooring may create in the process.

Other Generalized Considerations

Of course, leaving your current flooring how it is can be more sustainable. For most floors, a nice deep clean can bring it back to life and freshen up your space. Other floors like hardwoods can be refinished and stand for another lengthy period of time. Concrete can also be repolished. However, that may not always be the smartest option in terms of functionality and sustainability. Maybe your carpet has seen the end of its life cycle and is extremely stained, warped, or simply falling apart at the seams. Maybe your vinyl floors are bubbling and letting water seep through to the subfloor. Maybe your hardwoods have reached the end of their extensive lifetime and the planks are now too thin or otherwise damaged to be refinished in the first place. Or maybe whatever flooring you currently have has a higher maintenance for your lifestyle and is causing strain mentally, physically, or even financially. Our wellbeing needs to be taken into account, as well—not just the aesthetics, budget, or other influencing factors in picking out your floors.

Flooring Options Break Down

Now, with that all in mind, let’s take a look into specific flooring options. Click on the buttons below for each flooring option. Buttons that have a date indicate when that article will be released, and if there is one you would like to be notified when it is released, click on the Contact button and state which option you are wanting information on. We will notify you and send you with a link to the article when completed!