walkin', I love linoleum. If I could have talked DH into it I would have it right now. We put in engineered hickory wood. We do have a tiny area of bamboo which we got from a big box store. Then my neighbor's kid, home from college and a member of Green Peace, told me how awful it was for the environment. *sigh*

I think about this alot, and have come to the conclusion that the only really green thing to do, is to use what you have and not remodel. Aside from replacing energy-sucking old appliances, anyway. Other than that...just try to look for choices that are made localy, from local materials. And often, those tend to be the most expensive materials...making green remodeling something more associated with higher-income folk.

BTW, I love concrete floors, too. One of my sisters lives in one of those old warehouse buildings converted in lofts, and her floors are sealed concrete...they are so pretty.

But lino is my favorite. If we ever move (from my mouth to the gods ears), I really want lino in my next home.

Joanna

Here is a link that might be useful: linoleum

I would think reclaimed hardwood is the most ecologically sound- you aren't using any new materials, no trucks are rampaging through the forest to collect or cut down trees, no toxins produced or used, no pesticides, herbicides, or other -icides. Your only issue is the carbon used to get the wood from wherever it is to wherever you need it to be.

http://cfc.whtm.com/affinity/affarticle.cfm?id=45

Concrete has the mining of limestone matter to deal with. Although the quarries are generally small, their impact is HUGE where they exist.

Trees are cut down to produce linoleum, in this particular manufacturer they are replaced. http://www.greenfloors.com/HP_Linoleum_Table_Insert.htm

We're "building green" (perhaps an oxymoron, I know) and will be using locally grown and responsibly harvested hardwood flooring. The mud/laundry room area will be Marmoleum. We will also have some carpets that are recyclable. (big deal...)

I had bamboo at the last house and though it regrows quickly, you have to consider the carbon footprint associated with bringing it over here from China. I wasn't thinking about that at the time (six years ago) but it seems obvious now that I am thinking differently about such things.

Concrete has it's issues, mostly due to the energy required to make Portland cement, a major constituent of concrete. You can google and find more.

I am putting a recycled glass countertop in my kitchen that uses concrete as a binder. The key there is to try to find a material with as little binder as possible. As with everything, you get a little and give a little. We grow corn for ethanol, save some fossil fuel and screw up the farmland and the environment in the process. There is never an easy solution.

The most eco friendly floor is what you have already :~)

Elvis beat me to it. If there is a floor already then it is the most ecological choice.
Concrete has high embodied energy but lasts and lasts and lasts.
A local wood floor, especially a somewhat softer species that will last the life of the house is not a bad choice.
Personally I think anything that will last 50 years or more is pretty ecological.
Adobe/earthen floors are extremely ecological, often made from dirt you get on the building site but it isn't for everyone and you might have trouble finding someone experienced to install if you don't want to do it yourself. But they are very comfy and durable.

If you are changing your floor, look at cork. It's considered a "green" choice and can be very attractive in the right places. It has been popular in the UK for quite awhile; it's very easy on the feet and warmer than wood, and an appropriate material for asthma sufferers.

che1sea, why is softer wood more ecological? I need to know since I chose cherry and worry that it will get awfully dinged up. If I knew that I made a "better" choice than going with oak, I'd be a happy camper!

The most eco friendly floor is what you have already.

Yep!

All the trim in our 7-year-old house (which we did not build) is old longleaf pine, originally grown about 40 miles from here and recycled from old beams. The bedrooms and my office have recycled oak flooring with natural finish and patina -- stains and nail holes. I (heart) them. If they get scratched, I just rub in some oil and the scratches disappear. The other floors are stained concrete.

The oak floors in our last house had been there since 1938 when it was built. So much character!

Thanks, guys. I agree with BVE and Wooderlander -- the most ecological thing to do would be to just keep what we've got -- or to go with local products. But in our case that will be tricky, as we have aging, nasty, light-colored carpet atop a concrete slab. We won't keep the carpet much longer; the slab means no reclaimed hardwood, since I'm pretty sure you have to go with engineered if you're installing directly over concrete.

The area to be refloored abuts imitation-limestone porcelain tile, which I like and will keep, so whatever we do has to play nicely with the tile. I think that means no cork or linoleum, alas. (Joanna, do you have lino in your bathrooms? We have to redo our bathrooms too, but I am not sure lino is watertight.)

So I was thinking either engineered wood or staining the concrete we have. Both are beautiful. I've heard that acid-etching "preexisting" concrete, as opp. to new, is complicated -- might have to do leveling, put a new coat of concrete on top of the old so that it takes the stain evenly, etc. And since this room is the heart of the house, and the back door opens onto it, I am not sure wood can take that kind of traffic.

But I love the idea of adobe! We're sitting on the adobe motherlode down here (deserts of New Mexico), so I am *sure* I could find experts to install it. I wonder whether the adobe would hold up with my sons trekking across it every day... does anyone know?

Anyway, thanks for thinking this over with me, everyone. I also wonder about the eco-benefits of, say, buying tile at a Habitat Restore instead of buying new; would that be more ecologically responsible?