Eco-Friendly Flooring

By Heather Bryce

Tropical deforestation is responsible for 10 percent of all global warming emissions, not to mention obliterating critical habitats of plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth. We can all do our part by cutting down on demand. Here are some worthy alternatives to exotic hardwoods.

Reclaimed Wood
Antique Lumber Modern Millwork in Wainscott sells handsome flooring made of lumber reclaimed from century-old barns in the Northeast. “It doesn’t get greener than that,” says Chris White, who owns the firm with his wife, Qiana. It also doesn’t get more beautiful. Mostly made from white oak beams, such flooring retains its aged character, much like fine wine. Look for wormholes, cracks, knots and checking.

“The carbon footprint is very low,” says Chris. Rather than being harvested, it is carefully deconstructed by hand. The Whites purchase much of their stock from Amish traders who use manpower, not machines, to disassemble and mill the wood. “They supply it edge cut, de-nailed, kiln-dried and brush planed — to make it more consistent.”

Antique Lumber recently installed reclaimed wood floors in a 19th century mansion on Cobb Isle Road. Besides white oak, they also sell reclaimed floor boards in walnut, chestnut, hemlock and pine (heart, pumpkin, and white.)
Sustainable Bamboo

Luxury homebuilder Frank Dalene, head honcho at Telemark, says his go-to flooring is bamboo, “the most sustainable flooring there is.” It’s actually a grass, not a wood, yet can be 25 percent harder than red oak. One of the fastest growing plants on the planet it matures in four to five years, so it is a rapidly renewing resource. Most bamboo flooring is made in China and requires minimal fertilization or pesticides.

Telemark has been installing bamboo floors since 1999, when they built the Ross School’s Center for Wellbeing. “We were the first adapters in the Hamptons. It’s very stable, very pretty and can’t stain.” The exotic materials come in blonde (its natural shade) or deeper timber shades, a result of carbonization (heating). It’s essential to look for bamboo flooring with No Added Urea Formaldehyde (NAUF) for good indoor air quality (IAQ).

Comforting Cork
A favorite of Frank Lloyd Wright, most cork hails from Portugal where laws to conserve it began as early as 1209! The bark of the Cork Oak, which can live up to 250 years, is harvested when the tree turns 25, then stripped by hand every nine years without damaging the tree. Flooring is often made from scraps of bark left over from punched-out bottle stoppers, which are then ground, pressed and baked into sheets for planks and tiles. Thus there is little waste in its production.

Unsurprisingly, cork is inherently cushioning – so it’s ideal for spaces where you spend time standing such as the kitchen, or for a kid’s room where comfort and safety are key. Allergy sufferers, take note. Not only doesn’t it accrue dust, but it also contains suberin, a natural substance that fends off mold, mildew and pests.

It has become the favorite of designers who appreciate its natural variations in tone and texture and the fact that it can be dyed or stained any shade. Most cork doesn’t work in damp areas, but manufacturer Wicanders has created water resistant Hydrocork in 12 realistic wood visuals.

Retro Flooring
Believe it or not, linoleum, which is composed of linseed oil, powdered cork, powdered wood, limestone, jute and pine rosin — all rapidly renewable, recyclable and biodegradable – is a very green product. And it can be installed using 100 percent solvent-free adhesives. With its extensive palette of vibrant colors, linoleum tiles can be assembled in a classic checkerboard pattern, vintage midcentury design or modern montage. You are only limited by your imagination.