It may seem odd that cutting down trees and making hardwood flooring can be environmentally sound at the same time. The truth is, if you do your research and make smart choices, your hardwood floors can be green and guilt free.
You can’t get hardwood floors without cutting down a few trees. You’ll be happy to know that far more trees are sewn and grown per year than are being cut down. And there are safeguards in place, like the Forest Stewardship Council to make sure that your hardwood floors are being taken from sustainable managed forests.
If you’re worried about the impact your hardwood floors will have on your carbon footprint all you have to do is remind yourself of your high school biology class. Okay, you don’t want to go back there, we understand. Here’s why you shouldn’t worry. Trees suck up CO2 and H2O in order to grow big and strong releasing O2 back into the air so we can breathe. See, that wasn’t so bad. To put it in environmentally friendly terms: living trees will store carbon dioxide, not emit carbon dioxide making your hardwood floors carbon neutral.
Hardwood floors also take less water and energy to make and maintain. Plus, they last a lifetime. And should they need to be replaced, wood can be recycled. It’s like everywhere you turn hardwood flooring is scoring one for the environment.
Speaking of reducing, re-using and recycling, if you weren’t already feeling good about carbon neutral hardwood flooring from an FSC certified forest, check out the many options out there for reclaimed or recycled hardwood products and feel twice as good about your hardwood floors.
So, don’t you worry your little green heart about the environmental impacts of having hardwood flooring. Go ahead, treat yourself and your home!
