Eco flooring for your eco home needs to provide the perfect balance between comfort, appearance and, of course, the minimal impact on the environment. Made from materials that are either recycled or harvested sustainably, there is a variety of eco flooring types to choose from:

Bamboo

Bamboo is a great environmentally friendly alternative to hardwood for flooring your eco house. Trees take 15-20 years to regenerate, whilst bamboo takes a mere 3-5 years to return to its previous state. This means it can be harvested more regularly with less damage to the environment.

Bamboo is exceptionally strong, with a hardness that’s closer to steel than it is to hardwood. Coupled with this is that bamboo easily matches the natural beauty of timber. And bamboo eco flooring is available in a range of earthy tones and colours.

The only drawback is that bamboo can warp in moist environments, which means it maybe shouldn’t be your first choice as eco flooring in your bathroom or laundry room.

Cork

Cork is harvested from stripping the bark from oak cork trees. The bark can be stripped without causing permanent damage and will grow back within 10 years, making it an exceptionally environmentally friendly eco flooring material.

Cork offers excellent heat and sound insulation. And its durability makes it ideal for busy areas, such as lounges and hallways, in your eco house. Exceptionally flexible, cork will spring back to shape after people have walked across it. Cork is also water and stain resistant, making it perfect for bathrooms and other rooms with a lot of moisture.

Available in a range of colours and patterns, cork is an attractive and durable eco flooring choice for your eco home.

Marmoleum

Marmoleum is a particular brand of linoleum made from cork, linseed oil, rosin, jute and limestone. These are all natural products and 100% biodegradable.

The properties of marmoleum are often compared to those of vinyl, with one big exception being that vinyl is totally synthetic. In the creation of vinyl a lot of toxic pollutants are created, which are very damaging to the environment. It’s for this reason that marmoleum is becoming a popular alternative.

Marmoleum is very hard wearing, so it’s ideal for eco homes with pets and children. The only drawback is that it can excrete a slight aroma of linseed oil, which might irritate some people.

Available in a wide range of colours, marmoleum is an excellent environmentally friendly and durable eco flooring material.

Carpet

Most carpets are made from synthetic materials (such as nylon and polyester) and account for an estimated 2% of the waste in landfill sites. However, environmentally friendly carpets for eco homes are now available, made form natural fibres like wool, jute and coconut husk.

Eco friendly carpets also often have a hessian backing, which makes them a completely natural eco flooring option.  They can be easily recycled, which can give them a greater stain resistance than synthetic carpets.

Eco friendly carpets offer warmth, comfort and the reassurance knowing that when it needs to be replaced you won’t be contributing to our already overflowing toxic landfills.