We all want to do our part to help save our planet.
Nevertheless, most of us do not like to be told what we should purchase or what
we should not consider purchasing. We have been encouraged to wean ourselves
away from incandescent light bulbs, and switch to energy-saving bulbs, which we
have now grown accustomed to, and in many cases have come to prefer, but what
about
Rubber Flooring? Fortunately, flooring is also an area where
you can go green, and do so in style. It is indeed possible to have great
looking wood flooring in your home without contributing to worldwide
deforestation.
Wood Flooring and Sustainable Wood Flooring
Your choices are many. Going green does not have to mean
going without wood floors to keep trees from being harvested. The secret lies
in sustainability. When a forest is growing as fast as its timber is being
harvested, it can be considered to be a sustainable resource. If your beautiful
living room wood flooring has been manufactured from material coming from a
sustainable resource, there is no need to experience a guilt trip every time
you look at it.
Bamboo is an excellent example of a sustainable source of
wood for
Rubber flooring. Bamboo is sustainable to the point of being
invasive. When bamboo is harvested as a wood product, the roots are left in the
ground as the trees are cut. New trees quickly start to grow from these roots,
and in a few short years this new growth is itself ready to be harvested.
White ash is also a sustainable species, but for a different
reason, the reason being intelligent forestry management. White ash can be
rather heavily harvested because the harvested trees are constantly being
replaced and there are restrictions on the number of trees that can be
harvested are. Some varieties of maple are considered sustainable for yet
another reason, that being their sheer abundance.
Purchasing cork flooring is yet another way to save our
planet and its forests, or at least save the southern European forests the cork
oak is found in. The cork oak tree itself is the responsible party in this
case, as the flooring material comes from bark that is shed from the tree.
There is no need to cut a single tree down. The flooring material lies
scattered around its base. Cork is also extensively used as core material for
engineered wood flooring.
Other Types of Sustainable Flooring
Engineered wood is another good example of sustainable
flooring material, since it only a small percentage of it is solid wood. The
rest is scrap or recycled material. The same is true to an even greater extent
with laminates. Although supplies are somewhat limited, recycled wood such as
antique wood is an option. Old barn wood was once a very popular choice and
still is, but old barns are unfortunately not sustainable, and are becoming
scarcer with each passing year.
There many examples of non-wood sustainable flooring,
including stone, ceramic, vinyl, rubber, and of course, carpeting. Many if not
most homeowners like to have at least some wood flooring in their homes
however. Fortunately, the choices of sustainable wood flooring are many and
varied. Have no fear of going green. There are more attractive options
available to you than you might think.
W. Savage provides helpful tips and advice on caring for and
maintaining antique wood
Rubber flooring for Wood Flooring
at Savvy Cafe - your premiere online resource for home improvement and much
more!
