Green Flooring

Green products are becoming more and more popular as concerns are growing about manufacturing processes, harmful additives and by- products, resources or rather the depleting resources, and sustainability issues in general. Both heath consciousness and the concern of sustainability of forests worldwide have created a sense of social obligation to make sure our homes become a safer place.

More consumers are looking for a more proactive approach to be green and we have all the green flooring options here to choose from! Aside from the obvious benefit of helping the environment, there are many practical benefits as well- such as meeting possible government standards for recycling, some flooring can last longer than other types, and they are safer for the people in your home by improving air quality.

Relo offers a wide selection of environmentally friendly flooring options including sustainable cork, bamboo, recycled carpets, and even sustainable hardwoods, all from manufacturers such as Mohawk, US Floors, Home Legend, Fabrica and Couristan.

Cork

From its harvest to installation, cork is an environmentally sustainable and non toxic product. It is a fast growing, renewable resource that is a beautiful alternative to other flooring choices. Trees are grown and can be harvested every nine to eleven years without harming the trees or their habitat. These trees can produce cork bark for over two hundred years. Typically, the cork bark is sent to factories to create cork bottle stoppers, and cork flooring is created from the waste from these factories. The waste material is ground up and formed into sheets using minimal amounts of adhesives to bind material together. With today's technology, Mohawk and US Floors provide us with cork flooring that comes in many different styles, designs and colors, and can be sealed for extra water resistance. Here are some other characteristics that make cork such a popular and smart choice.

* Warm and comfortable under foot, provides low impact on knees and back
* Easy clean up and maintenance
* Inherent thermal and acoustic insulation helps keep noise down and reduce energy use
* Natural fire inhibitor and doesn't spread flame
* Resistant to mold and mildew

Bamboo

Mohawk and US Floors also supply us with Strand Woven and Natural Bamboo flooring as well. One of bamboos greatest benefits as a sustainable material is the rate that it renews itself. A harvest cycle for this grass is only three to five years, and to be a rapidly renewable material the harvest rotation is generally ten years or less. In comparison, most hardwood species take fifty to a hundred years to be harvested. Bamboo also regenerates without needing to be replanted, and requires minimal fertilization or pesticides and also releases 35% more oxygen than trees. After the bamboo is harvested, it is sliced into strips and, boiled in water with a preservative and pressed flat. It is then laminated and kiln dried. Some bamboo flooring products may be laminated over a core of MDF which usually contains some recycled industrial wood fiber, as does the flooring made on OSB. It can even be made into an engineered product that uses only a thin bamboo layer that is over a non bamboo ply base.

During installation, the products we carry use a low formaldehyde adhesive, which contribute to better indoor air quality. Bamboo floors are meant to last a lifetime, estimated 40-50 years, and the one time cost of installing bamboo is less than the cost for multiple installations of less durable flooring. This raises the value and saves the customer money in the long run. Just like cork, bamboo can be found in many different shades, textures and even plank sizes- and is the perfect combination of style performance, and sustainability! Other advantages include:

* Able to be refinished and maintained the same as wood
* Harder than most hardwoods and multiple coats of aluminum oxide keep it from scratching easily
* Using bamboo can earn you LEED points and possible incentives from government

Recycled Carpet

Another form of flooring that provides green flooring options is carpet, with Mohawk leading the way and providing many options of recycled product. They recover old carpet from landfills, keeping three billion pounds of it from landfills. They also recycle 14,000 plastic bottles every minute into their EverStrand carpet. The goal of the EverStrand carpet is to provide your home with the quality and stylish flooring it should have, without causing harm to the planet or your home.

The process to make this carpet consists of four basic steps. Mohawk takes the 3 billion plastic bottles it reclaims ever year and recycles them into PET (polyester) chips. These chips are then made into the EverStrand fibers that are superior to low grade synthetic fibers, and is then fabricated into household carpet. These fibers provide excellent color quality with the same level of stain resistance to spills and stains, making this is a smart, safe choice for your household.

WearDated Revive is another Mohawk carpet product that is green. This is basically bringing a softer fiber to the recycled plastic bottle carpet. It uses innovative fiber cleaning technology which intensifies the natural softness, creating a thicker, clean, cushiony carpet that is durable enough for the entire home. This fiber cleaning wash removes rough fibers, particles, and oily residue which increase the adherence ability of the stain resistance topical treatment. This makes the carpet smoother and cleaner, and less likely to trap soil and dirt that wouldn't be removed with regular vacuuming. The results of this process basically give you a longer lasting fiber with exceptional strength and durability, all while using 25% of all bottles recycled in North America.

For a third green carpet option there is Mohawk's SmartStrand with DuPont Sorona. This carpet contains ingredients made from corn sugar. 37% of the carpets fiber comes from renewably sourced ingredients that replace petroleum. By producing SmartStrand, they save up to 10 million gallons of gas each year. The production requires 30% less energy than the production of an equal nylon fiber, and greenhouse gas emissions are 63% lower. These environmental benefits don't compromise on the quality of carpet- there is still built in stain protection, time tested durability, and incredible softness found in SmartStrand carpets. This is the first time that a luxurious carpet offers all these benefits as well as making less of an environmental impact.

Sustainable Hardwood

Mohawk continues their sustainable trend into hardwoods. Their line of Reclaimed Hardwood flooring brings antique natural beauty right to your floor! The wood used to make this flooring was reclaimed from ancient buildings, some as old as 600 years. Instead of the deconstruction materials going to landfills, an increasing percentage is being salvaged and turned into beautiful, unique hardwood flooring. Many of the planks show original antiquing and distressing, revealing the woods past, while providing original style and fashion to your home.

In addition to actual recycled or reclaimed flooring, any engineered hardwood can be considered one of the greenest options out there. Engineered wood is made from materials that range from layers of hardwood around a hardwood core, to being around a high density fiberboard core, or newer greener materials such as wheat board core. In order to know how green it really is, look for the Forest Stewardship Council certification on the back of our samples. Engineered floors use about 30-50% less wood than solid hardwoods, so there is less raw materials involved and the wood can cover more area. With Mohawk, they use a technology called PureBond, a process that reduces the addition of any unnecessary formaldehyde and serves as a low emission product. Mohawk was also the first engineered hardwoods to achieve FloorScore certification, a coveted distinction for indoor air quality emissions.