I think white Corian should work for you. They have a solid white, or white with some flecks of color or something like rain washed that is a bit swirly.

i believe you can also get it in a "thinner" profile. We put Corian in our first kitchen remodel, I would have put it in again, if it had a color or pattern that I wanted for the current kitchen.

Here's what nearly 20-year-old Corian looks like after a $300.00 refinish. The Corian sink looks new.

Looks awesome!

I suspect I may need to strike "environmentally friendly" off my list since "virtually indestructible" is so high on my list.

Corian is tough as nails. We moved into a house that had corian in the kitchen and bathroom, and 18+ years later its held up impressively, with little to no care from me and abuse from young kids (science experiments, mud, and other "creative" uses for a sink that only young boys could invent). Here are a few caveats:

1) the Corian was put in by previous owners who had the sink seamlessly made as part of the overall countertop. A cool idea but after living with it, I'd definitely opt for an under mount sink instead. Way more durable and you don't have to mess with staining in the sink, which is the only place I ever had trouble with stains (coffee, berries, wine) and discoloring. Plus it offers you more flexibility down the road, where you can change it out later if needed.

2) In our space, the countertop itself is thin (maybe 1/2"?) with a 1.25" band laminated around the edges to make it appear to be a thicker countertop (again this was installed by previous owners probably 1996?, so not sure how fabrication has changed from then to now...). Believing it was as thick as the edge suggested, a repair guy climbed up and stood in the middle of the island countertop, and the countertop cracked. Not the countertop's fault, but if you have an area that spans wider than a standard 25" deep countertop, its worth considering how to adequately reinforce the thinner area inside of the edge band. Our island is a big square -- something like 55" x 55". That's the area that cracked -- though there was no cracking on any perimeter countertops that are standard 25" deep, to spite me frequently climbing on them to get into my upper cabinets.

3) Aside from the island mentioned above -- our perimeter countertop is a solid cream and after the same abuse my sink endured, I've had no stains & zero damage. The countertop requires zero care, and has been put through its paces with hot pans, cutting directly on the surface, wine, coffee, berries, paint, glue, accidental sharpie marks, and my frequent standing on the perimeter countertop to reach upper cabinets. For years. So if you are concerned about a light, solid color, I wouldn't worry one bit. Ours has aged incredibly well. (FWIW the perimeter is a solid cream and island countertop is a grey speckled color -- in my opinion, after 18+ years, the solid still looks great (classic) while the pattern looks pretty dated.)

Before living in this house with the Corian countertops, we lived in a house that had polished black granite countertops (requiring chasing every water spot and spill and fighting constant streaks). The carefree nature of Corian was a very welcome change. Last but not least -- Corian has a nice warmth to the touch, not cold like granite, which I personally appreciate, especially in the dead of Chicago winter.

Maybe some options listed at the bottom of this article?

http://www.getwithgreen.com/2007/07/21/countertops-12-materials-to-choose-fromwhich-are-eco-friendly/

Thanks for the recs and detailed information. Corian is sounding promising. I definitely can't keep the counter dry all the time, and there will be spills of all colors.

Just so you know what I am currently dealing with, here is my current countertop, scorch mark courtesy of my mom. I dislike it so much that sometimes I cut directly on it because I don't care if it gets scratched.

The temp thing is interesting to me. So many people mention the warmth or coolness of various surfaces, and I would never have thought that that could be important. So now I'm picturing coming down on a winter morning and making breakfast and school lunches and I can see how granite and the like could be unpleasantly cold.

Kristen Halverson:

Any top that fails from the weight of a person suffers from fabricator/installer error, not customer abuse. If you can't put a shop full of guys on your tops, they aren't installed properly, no matter the material.