Sustainable House and Home

When you are in the market for some new flooring for your home, there are several aspects to consider.  The most important one, aside from looks, is what function it will serve.  Not that it will be used for anything besides your floor, but what type of use will it get.  Are you looking for flooring for your kitchen?  How about your bedroom?  Each of these scenarios can present challenges for using particular types of flooring.  With some more information, you can make a better decision about what is right for your unique case.  There are any number of varieties of wood, tile and other manufactured products to meet most any need and budget.

Let’s discuss a few of the more common flooring options or materials and then we will get to the bamboo flooring discussion.  Typically, a newer home is built using a lesser-quality carpeting and pad and tile installation.  This can look fine and will do for many years.  However, when it is time to update or change the look of your home, you might want something that is a bit more appealing.  This is where real wood and manufactured wood products come into play.

At one time, the Pergo™ floors in that natural oak-color was all that you could find for a manufactured product.  Unless you went with a real wood floor, this was it.  And, for the cost and installation, it worked very well.  It is still on the market and sells very well.  However, there are many more Pergo™ products now that look and behave even more like real wood floors.  Wood can still be considered the gold standard when it comes to flooring, but it can also be considered to be a non-green product because of how it is harvested.  Unless the wood comes from sustainably grown sources, it may not appeal to the more environmentally conscious homeowner or designer.  Some of the engineered wood floors fall into this ‘non-green’ category as well, because of the products used in their production.

Bamboo flooring is unique in this regard.  Because bamboo is actually a grass and not a wood at all, it has much more of an appeal as a green product.  It is harvested in a way that is sustainable and contributes to less environmental impact.  Bamboo is a very durable and stable product.  In fact, it is harder than oak in terms of density.  A bamboo floor will definitely last you a long time.  One limitation with a bamboo floor is with color choices.  If you are shopping more with your eyes to fashion over function, then you might come up short with bamboo.  Typically, bamboo is only offered in a light tan color (natural bamboo color) or in a caramelized color that is the product of ‘toasting’ it.  This is a great tone and makes a good neutral backdrop for other furniture or rugs.

One might also be concerned about the energy costs associated with harvesting bamboo.  This is a legitimate concern and one that should be addressed briefly here as we are concerned about sustainable issues in a holistic way.  This means, energy consumption from harvest through finished installed product.  It cannot be ignored that there is a definite cost of transport of this bamboo as it is harvested overseas in most cases.  Like many green products, we must weigh the benefits with the costs.  Overall, in terms of environmental impact, bamboo still comes out ahead in our book.  In the sustainable home, you can’t really go wrong with bamboo flooring.

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When you are considering how to get a new look for your walls, paint is the most often used choice.  As they say, a fresh coat of paint goes a long way.  And, there are many different ways of applying paint so that you can create texture or patterns with various techniques.  However, the problem with many of the paints that you find in the large home improvement warehouses have volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in them.  Not only have these been implicated in detrimental health effects, but they also just plain stink.  Think back to the last time you painted a room.  How long did it take until you could go in your house before that smell went away?  Well, you can blame that on all of those VOCs.

This is a Venetian plaster example.

Now, to be fair, these larger stores have added much in the way of low to no VOC paints.  The color palette is just as extensive as the standard paints and the way that it is applied and looks is just the same.  It doesn’t require any additional products or special tools to apply.  In fact, clean up may even be easier seeing how they are not toxic.  A similar issue took place with lead paint some years ago.

In the United States and many other developed countries, lead-based paints are now not even legal.  Homes that contain lead paint or are even suspected of containing it carry strict regulations as to how it must be removed or treated prior to remodeling.  This is often the case more with professionals getting involved.  Certainly the homeowner can scrape or sand away anything they wish, though this is not safe and should definitely be done with caution.  This risk is even more of a hazard if children are in the home.  Lead is a nasty agent that affects development of brain and other organ tissues.

So, what kinds of wall treatments are available?  If you don’t want to opt for a no VOC paint, you can opt for a different look with a wall plaster style.  This type of application is most known for being done in a way called Venetian plaster.  This approach yields a few smooth and lustrous finish reminiscent of an old world villa.  This technique does take some practice and skilled tradesman train for years to get just the right touch.  This type of wall plastering technique is similar to an even more ‘green friendly’ use of a clay plaster.

Why Is Clay Plaster A Green Product?

Well, it is all in the materials.  Clay is an all natural ingredient that is dyed while wet to achieve a more blended mix.  The dyes can be made with non-toxic agents and even naturally-derived and grown products. When the dye is added while the mix is being prepared, there is no need to paint afterward.  This can dramatically decrease your work time.  Also, because of the nature of the material, small dings and cuts will not show as the color is mixed throughout the product.  The clay plaster is applied to the walls with a trowel and the unique hand-applied approach yields a very natural and organic looking finish.

Among clay’s many green attributes are its natural mold and dust resistance.  Also, because it is actually applied to the walls, it does provide an additional layer of sound deadening.  It can help your room feel more comfortable and warm.  Not only does it afford you these benefits, but because of its properties, it also looks beautiful as the light in the room changes.  You may find that the color gains a different layer of depth and hue in different lights of the day.  For a green wall covering choice, you will be very pleased with clay plaster.

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Welcome to the initiation of our site.  While we hope to change the world, we realize it’s better to start at home first.  We look forward to a long future together!