eco friendly interior designing materials

• Eco-Friendly Interior Materials

Eco-Friendly Interior Materials for Your Home

• What is an “Eco-friendly” material and how to know?
• Carpet and Flooring
• Counter tops
• Tile and Decorative Fixtures
• Reused and Salvaged Materials
• Helpful Resources
• Q&A

1.       What is an “eco-friendly” material and how to know?

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• An eco-friendly material limits the strain on virgin materials, fossil fuels, and other natural resources not only by its composition, but also through the manufacturing process, transportation of the material, and end of life recyclability.
• How to know if I am choosing an eco-friendly material:
• Recycled Content: Is a percentage (or all) of the product made from recycled materials?
• Locality: Is it made from a local source? How far did it travel to get to my doorstep? Within 500 miles?
• Manufacturer Responsibility: Does the product manufacturer have an environmental policy in place? Do they strive to reduce and reuse within the manufacturing process, and then recycle?
• Rapidly Renewable Material: Is this product made from an agricultural product such as wheat, or an animal product such as wool, that takes 10 years or less to grow or raise and to harvest? Some other rapidly renewable materials include bamboo, cork, cotton, rubber, and linoleum.
• Low Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s): Does the product emit a low level of VOC’s, the odorous contaminants that are harmful to your comfort and well-being.
• End of Life: Can this product be diverted from the landfill at the end of it’s useful life?

2.     What is an “eco-friendly” material and how to know?

• What if the products I have selected do not meet all of these characteristics? Can it still be eco-friendly?
• BAMBOO FLOORING
• sustainably harvested source
• low VOC coating
• imported from China
• rapidly renewable resource
• YES!
• Determine the most benefits
• Determine the least tradeoffs
• STILL UNSURE?
• Which manufacturer has the most aggressive environmental policy?
• Which product takes up less cargo space?
• Which uses less or reusable packaging?

http://www.greenhomeguide.org/documents/regreen_product_checklist.pdf

• FSC Certified Hard Wood Floor
• sustainably harvested forest
• low VOC coating
• harvested and manufactured in US.

3.  Eco-Friendly Carpet Choices

• Wool Carpet
• Carpet Tile

4.  Wool Carpet: A rapidly renewable, natural material

• What is the Wool advantage?
• 100% natural fiber from 100% renewable resource.
• Several broadloom wool carpets have an all natural backing.
• Less wasteful, more efficient manufacturing than nylon carpet.
• Naturally soil resistant; less chemical cleaning.
• Great for indoor air quality; no harmful VOCs, hypo allergenic.
• Resists compression and fading (superior long-term appearance and durability)
• Who makes Wool Carpet?
• Hibernia Woolen Mills
• Woolshire Mills
• Earth Weave Carpet Mills
• Milliken Carpet Mills
• Google: “residential wool carpet”

5.   Carpet Tile: Reduce waste, reuse tiles, recycle at end of life

• What is the carpet tile advantage?
• More versatile than broadloom carpet.
• Replace one tile instead of an entire room – less waste!
• Contains a percentage of recycled material.
• Takes up less shipping space, and less space for attic stock.
• Repurpose or return and recycle at the end of its useful life.
• InterfaceFLOR Modular Carpet Tiles
• No glue! Reusable “FLORdots”
• Rearrange, redesign, and reuse.
• Moving? Take your carpet tiles with you!
• Reduce waste from tearing out existing floors.
• Recycled and Recyclable
• http://www.flor.com/

6.   Eco-Friendly Resilient and Hardwood Flooring

• Linoleum, Cork, and Bamboo
• FSC Wood Flooring

        Linoleum, Cork and Bamboo: Rapidly renewable, natural materials

• Linoleum? Really??
• All natural, renewable materials
• Durable and low-maintenance material
• Virtually limitless creative design opportunities, countertops included!
• Creating energy at the end of its useful life.
• Where to find it:
• Look for Forbo’s Marmoleum :
• www.forbolinoleumna.com
• Look for Armstrong’s Marmorette :
• http://www.armstrong.com/resflram/na/linoleum/en/us/

7.    Linoleum, Cork and Bamboo: Rapidly renewable, natural materials

• Cork Flooring
• Rapidly renewable material with superior durability characteristics
• Can be stained to match virtually any color
• Natural buoyancy allows for comfort underfoot
• Absorbs sound in noisy interiors.
• Just a little something to think about…
• Cork is produced only in Portugal and must
• travel a long way before getting to the US.

      Check out the design possibilities at: http://www.duro-design.com /

8.    Linoleum, Cork and Bamboo: Rapidly renewable, natural materials

• Bamboo
• Rapidly renewable material
• Incredibly durable – great life cycle!
• Beautiful design possibilities
• Two basic types of bamboo flooring: Strand and Solid
• Available from sustainably managed sources
• Another little something to think about…
• While bamboo is a rapidly renewable material, all bamboo used for
• flooring is grown in China. Again, we must think about the tradeoffs
• involved in the shipping of this product.

Check out the design possibilities at: http://www.duro-design.com /

9.    FSC Wood Flooring: Wood from a sustainable forest

• What is FSC and why?
• Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) – a non-profit, independent forest
• certification organization that monitors responsible forestry management.
• Supported by the US Green Building Council (USGBC).
• Eliminates illegal deforestation.
• Protects and benefits
• Quality wood flooring with limited sacrifice.
• How to know if it is FSC wood:

     Find FSC Certified flooring products at: http://www.duro-design.com/ http://     www.ecotimber.com /

• Find an FSC Certified dealer or product at this website:
• http://www.fsc-info.org/VController.aspx?Path=5e8cddf3-9b09-46c6-8b11-2fbdad9e2d71&NoLayout=true
• Look for the FSC stamp or sticker on the flooring product

10    Eco-Friendly Countertops: Recycled glass, paper, and plastic

• Recycled Glass
• Compressed Paper
• Recycled Plastic

11   Eco-Friendly Countertops: Recycled glass, paper, and plastic

• Recycled Glass
• 85% glass
• 100% of the glass is recycled in the USA
• Manufactured in the USA
• Diverts waste from the landfill
• Cradle to Cradle Certified
• No off-gassing
• Check out design ideas and the sustainable stories at:
• IceStone: http://www.icestone.biz/new/
• Vetrazzo: http:// www.vetrazzo.com/index.html

12.   Eco-Friendly Countertops: Recycled glass, paper, and plastic

• Recycled Paper
• Up to 100% Post – Consumer recycled paper
• Diverts waste from the landfill
• Paper Stone Certified contains 100%
• recycled paper and is certified by the FSC.
• Paper Stone is available through Lowe’s

Check out PaperStone and other paper countertops! http://www.paperstoneproducts.com/ http:// www.richlite.com /countertop/

13.   Eco-Friendly Countertops: Recycled glass, paper, and plastic

• Recycled Plastic: 3-Form 100%
• 100% recycled plastic
• Diverts waste from the landfill
• Up-cycled into higher quality
• Reduces the demand for virgin materials
• Entirely Recyclable
• Reclaim
• Old 3-Form, new design
• Save your cash!
• Reduce energy use

Check it out! http://www.3-form.com/order-reclaim.php Find more eco-friendly surface materials by 3-Form at: http://www.3-form.com/order-reclaim.php

14.   Eco-Friendly Tiles and Decorative Finishes: Recycled glass and aluminum

• Recycled Glass
• Recycled Aluminum

15.   Eco-Friendly Tiles and Decorative Fixtures: Recycled glass and aluminum

• Recycled Glass Tiles
• Up-cycled into a decorative finish
• Diverting waste from landfills
• Creating a market for recycled glass
• Beautiful and versatile

Check out Blaze Stone recycled glass tiles by Bedrock Industries. http://www.alternativeconsumer.com/2008/07/01/blazestone-recycled-glass-tile/ http:// www.bedrockindustries.com/html_pricelist.html Also check out Oceanside Glass Tile and look for their tiles with 80% recycled content or more! http:// www.glasstile.com/default.aspx

16.   Eco-Friendly Tiles and Decorative Fixtures: Recycled glass and aluminum

• Recycled Aluminum Tiles
• Up-cycled into a decorative finish
• Relieves overload at recycling facilities
• Creating a market for recycled aluminum
• Great for countertops and wall finishes

Check out these sources for decorative aluminum finishes: http://www.erinadamsdesign.com/luna.html http://www.eleekinc.com/tiles.html

17.   Eco-Friendly Tiles and Decorative Fixtures: Recycled glass and aluminum

• Recycled Aluminum Fixtures
• Up to 100% post consumer recycled content
• Metal scraps recreated into modern fixtures
• Reduces the extraction of virgin materials

Check out more decorative fixtures at: http://www.eleekinc.com/tiles.html

18.   Salvage and Reuse

• Reused Building Materials
• Salvaged Furniture and Misc. Finishes

19. Salvage and Reuse

• Salvaged Furniture, Finishes, and Hardware
• Make something old into something new
• Reduce energy use and waste
• Add quality and character
• To find salvaged pieces in your area:
• Search local listings for antique stores/warehouses
• Check out a local flea market
• Look under used furniture in the phone book
• Check out consignment shops

20.   Salvage and Reuse

• Reuse and Redefine
• Take an existing material and
• redefine its purpose
• Reduce energy use and waste
• Add quality and character
• To reclaim building materials:
• Habitat Restore
• Check out construction/renovation sites
• Search for auctions
• Check out antique stores and flea markets
• Scavenge your own attic!

21.   Helpful Resources

• http://www.naturalbuilthome.com/
• http://www.green2green.org/
• http://www.greenhomeguide.org/
• http://www.buildingreuse.org/
• http://www.fsc.org/
• http://www.thenaturalstep.org/com/nyStart/

Posted by:  
Swaroop Bapat
(Founder)
The Interior Master