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Choosing wood floors made from rapidly renewable materials lessens the impact on the world’s forests and the plant and animal life that relies on forest habitat. The harvest of both cork and bamboo does not destroy the plants and they are ready for harvest again in less than 10 years, whereas traditional hardwoods can take up to 50 years to grow to maturity.

Find it! Wood floors made from rapidly renewable materials

Before you buy

There are no standards for rapidly renewable materials, nor for how they are to be labeled. However, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which provides a third-party certification program to verify harvested trees come from sustainably managed forests, has begun certifying cork and bamboo.[1] [2] When shopping for cork or bamboo flooring, look for the FSC logo on the product. Most items made with FSC-certified wood have on-product FSC labels. However some companies aren't consistent about applying them.

Choosing wood floors made from rapidly renewable materials helps you go green because…

• Plants like bamboo and cork grow quickly and are easily renewed. Also, the harvest does not destroy the plant, leaving the soil and surrounding forest structure intact.
• Installing floors made from bamboo and cork means fewer trees from hardwood forests, including virgin or old growth forests are harvested.

Rapidly renewable materials are made from plants that are harvested within a 10-year cycle or shorter.[3] A 60-foot length of bamboo, the most commonly used rapidly renewable material, takes only 59 days to replace, which is very little time compared to the 60 years required to replace a 60-foot tree.[4] A floor made of rapidly renewable materials, rather than long-cycle materials taken from virgin or old growth forests, slows the depletion of these finite raw materials.[3]

Bamboo

Bamboo grass is one of the fastest growing plants in the world. Some species grow 30 inches or more every day, significantly more than the 30 inches oak trees gain in an average year.[5] For the manufacture of wood floors, bamboo stalks can be harvested every 3 to 7 years.[6]

Found most commonly in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America,[4] bamboo provides some important environmental benefits. It has net-like root systems, unique leaves, and dense litter on the forest floor, which protects against soil erosion and reduces rain runoff. This is true even in locations where it is difficult to grow plants, such as deforested areas, riverbanks, and places where earthquakes and mudslides are common.[7]

A bamboo stand will release 35 percent more oxygen than an equivalent stand of trees and can sequester up to 12 tons of carbon dioxide per hectare. Bamboo is also very adaptable, and therefore can grow in a variety of ecosystems. With 1,500 or more species, bamboo can tolerate between 30-250 inches of rain per year and thrives from sea level to 12,000 feet.[7]

In 2005, about 200 companies imported about 45 million cubic feet of bamboo flooring into the United States. This figure represents about 2 to 3 percent of the market for wood floors.[8] Bamboo plank flooring is available as solid bamboo of one or more layers, or as a bamboo laminate glued on top of another material.[8] Depending on the bamboo variety and its length of maturation, the hardness of good-quality bamboo is comparable to red oak.[6]

Because bamboo can be harvested frequently, it is less expensive than most hardwood flooring. Prices start at $3.50 per square foot. Lower-priced bamboo floors are often made from immature, lower quality bamboo.[6] Manufacturers that sell high-quality products offer at least a 10-year warranty.[6]

Cork

Cork floors are made from the outer bark of the cork oak tree, which grows in the Mediterranean region.[9] The thick bark is stripped off every 9 years without damaging the trees, which live 170 to 250 years. Cork oak forests tend to be models of sustainable management, due to strict local controls.[10] The forests feature a high number of native species—up to 135 species per 0.1 hectare and host several endangered species including the Iberian imperial eagle and the Barbary deer.[11] Cork oaks thrive in open areas of grassland and scrub vegetation interspersed by trees. This environment allows farmers to practice a low-intensity combination of agriculture and forestry, which promotes careful forest management.[10]

Cork planks or tiles are available as a glue-down floor, a floating floor over a subfloor or as a glueless interlocking system. Cork floors are available unfinished or prefinished at the factory.[12] They are comparable to mid or high-end hardwood flooring and range from $3 to $7 per square foot.[9]

Controversies

• Bamboo and cork are not grown in the United States and must travel long distances, burning fossil fuels, to get here. However, oceangoing freighters move goods more efficiently than trucks.[8]
• The growth in popularity of bamboo products has been detrimental to the natural forests in countries where bamboo grows. Existing forests are often cut down and replaced with bamboo plantations, negatively impacting biodiversity.[13]
• Bamboo is often "over-managed" with chemical weeding and periodic tilling of the land to clear undergrowth. These practices increase erosion and produce a single-species plantation over large areas.[13]
• The intensive use of pesticides, weed killers and fertilizers in some bamboo growing areas also affects the environment by releasing toxins into soil and waterways.[13]

Related health issues

The manufacturing of both cork and bamboo floors uses binders to hold the fibers together. These binders include formaldehyde, which contributes to indoor air pollution.[9][6] Formaldehyde is a colorless gas that can cause watery eyes, burning sensations in the eyes and throat, nausea, and breathing difficulty when exposed at levels above 0.1 parts per million.[14] The US Department of Health and Human Services considers it a probable human carcinogen.[15]

Glossary

• formaldehyde: A flammable reactive gas belonging to the VOC family of chemicals. It is widely used in personal care products, building materials, insulation, and home furnishings. Ingestion of the chemical can cause severe physical reactions, including coma, internal bleeding, and death.[16]
• old growth forest, also known as virgin forest, ancient forest, or primary forest, is an area of forest that has attained great age and contains a variety of vertical vegetation layers, including large live trees. These forests may also be home to many rare species that are dependent on the ecologically unique old growth features.[17]

External links

• US Environmental Protection Agency
• Rainforest Alliance
• Build it Green
• Dovetail Partners
• U.S. Green Building Council