Best "green" carpeting

[lifelongMOgal]

Originally Posted by Rhino127

these are VERY unhealthy

Someone should tell Ed Begley as he has promoted them on his show as "green".

[Rhino127]

Originally Posted by lifelongMOgal

Someone should tell Ed Begley as he has promoted them on his show as "green".

They may be green for the environment because they use recycled materials BUT that doesn't mean healthy for the air in the home that you breath into your lungs and then goes into your bloodstream and used by all of your organs.

The fibres may be recycled but the fibres are bound together with a urea-formaldehyde based backing.

[Bass101]

Well, the situation is that the first floor of the house is all hardwood, which is great. However, it's the second floor that we need to deal with. The current carpet is in bad shape. We want to rip it out and replace it, and we feel that carpet will be a more comfortable option than hardwood or even cork. My first choice would be a Berber-type carpet, but something that's eco-friendly in terms of lung health.

I'm having a lot of trouble coming up with something. We don't want the recycled soda bottle carpet. Wool would be prohibitively expensive given how much square footage there is to carpet. I'm kind of not sure where to turn next.

[lifelongMOgal]

maybe this link will be of help:

Choose natural fiber carpets and rugs | GreenYour.com

[christina0001]

Originally Posted by lifelongMOgal

maybe this link will be of help:

Choose natural fiber carpets and rugs | GreenYour.com

Very interesting, thanks for posting this!
Has anyone tried carpets made with any of these products?
Also, are some easier/more difficult to obtain than others?
I don't like carpet (I think it's gross, holds dirt in), but I do need to replace the carpet in the bedrooms in the next year or so. I'd love to try one of these for the low off-gassing properties, if I can find them and if they aren't outrageously expensive. Also has to be stain resistent (I have pets).
Wool does NOT sound like a comfortable choice.

[haggardhouseelf]

In Japan they traditionally use Tatami mats made out of dried grass.

I think if I wanted carpeting I'd stick with wool. It does cost more initially, but if you care for it properly it will still look new 30 years from now. And contrary to what you'd think, it is actually very comfortable and soft. There are many different types of wool out there, not just the itchy kind.

For hard floors (non-carpeting...) I'd try to find a flooring company which uses reclaimed wood or FSC certified recycled flooring materials.

Cork is still controversial it seems. The flooring, I believe (haven't read about this in quite awhile), is made from what's left after making the cork stoppers (like you still find in most bottles of wine). As more wineries are switching from cork to other methods, the cork industry had to find a new way to market their product, so they began pushing cork for flooring. Either way you're using something that has to be produced from trees which have to be grown from forests which have to be managed which affect the wildlife trying to survive all this time... not to mention the chemicals used in managed forests which aren't used in those left wild.

Reclaiming or recycling products which are already here (no need to cut down more trees, harvest more, etc.) seems more ethical to me. It's always best to reuse something.

I remember reading something, too, about how the lynx has been affected by managing the cork forests in order to harvest the cork from it's woods. The lynx was already struggling due to people interfering with its prey - rabbits. Personally, I'd stay away from cork flooring simply because there seems to be a lot left to learn there. (Same goes for bamboo flooring.) Better to be safe than sorry.

[haggardhouseelf]

Originally Posted by lifelongMOgal

Someone should tell Ed Begley as he has promoted them on his show as "green".

I have noticed a few things on his show as well that weren't quite "green"... that's Hollywood for ya'!