Well, I've been looking at all options I can dig up and briefly considered concrete as it seemed pretty green. What I heard turned me away, though, including notorious staining, the weight, and the apparent difficulty with removal without destroying the cabinets.

It's so difficult to find the "perfect counters" - I guess because they don't exist. If you are open to other options, there's some great concrete lookalikes and metal countertop materials. Everyone knows about stainless steel, but if budget isn't an issue, zinc is very industrial/rustic.

I posted photos of some Old World looking concrete countertops and also sort of a rustic-modern looking countertop in a previous post...

Here is a link that might be useful: Concrete countertops

You mention home value-are you looking to move in the next 5 years? If so, I'd stick to granite. If you are probably staying a while in this home, use what YOU want.

Thanks for the input so far.

In terms of moving, we may be moving in the next five years but probably not. And zinc sounds interesting. From the pictures I have found, it doesn't look too bad.

But I wonder how practical it is?

Have you looked at Squak Mountain Stone? It is "a Fibrous-cement material comprised of recycled paper, recycled glass, and low-carbon cement . . . hand-cast into "slabs" as an alternative to natural or quarried stone." Very green. It kind of resembles a cross between concrete and limestone, with a few flecks of other material here and there. It comes in a few colors. I actually quite like its look, in the right environment.

The biggest problem with it, and with any concrete or cement based product, is etching, staining and reactivity to acids. If you are interested in any such product, I highly recommend you test out a sample...for us, it wasn't worth it so we quickly dropped the materials from consideration. I know others, however, who have gone with concrete and really like their counters...a lot of it has to do with how much "patina' you are comfortable with over time.

This is also the case with zinc, by the way - it is beautiful, but it definitely gets patina'd very quickly. Look at any zinc bar at a bistro, etc, and you will see many many rings from glasses, etc. Its part of the materials charm, but be sure you like it before you commit...

Here is a link that might be useful: Squak Mountain Stone