Sustainable Floor Choices

• One ecologically oriented alternative to tile flooring is to use alternative materials. Cork floors are quiet, durable and attractive. Cork is developed from the bark of the cork oak tree, and it can be harvested without actually chopping down the tree. Cork is versatile and can be adapted to a number of interior design schemes. Another alternative floor material is bamboo. Bamboo can have the look of hardwood floors, yet bamboo grows much more quickly than hardwood trees. Bamboo is easily adaptable yet durable and very attractive.
  
  Tile floors are often mounted on a concrete slab. It is possible, however, to adapt a concrete floor so that it is environmentally finished and has an attractive, polished surface. The Charter Steel plant in Ohio chose a floor-finishing process that used the existing concrete floor as a base and an application of environmentally friendly products. The end result was a smooth floor surface with a sheen that also inhibits contaminating agents from penetrating its surface.
  
  Recycled tile also can be an environmentally conscious alternative for floors. It can be manufactured from glass or from terrazzo recovered from porcelain toilets or sinks. Recycled tile retains the durability and ease of maintenance of tile from new materials but at a much lower ecological cost.