Top 5 Most Environmentally Friendly and Healthy Floors | Sustainable Flooring Solutions

Sustainability and health are becoming increasingly important in nutrition, lifestyle and fashion. But ecological standards are also becoming increasingly important when it comes to furnishings, house construction and renovation. Last but not least, the call for naturalness and naturalness is becoming louder and louder - not only from an ethical perspective but also from a physical and psychological one: handmade unique items from small manufactories instead of mass production, self-made and upcycling projects instead of constantly new purchases. Sustainable flooring fits perfectly into the sustainable, prudent, and above all decelerated lifestyle!

In this post, we explain what makes sustainable flooring so popular and provide guidance on what flooring options are available to you if you want to live naturally and healthily!

Sustainability & Health in Apartment and House

More and more, sustainable standards are being applied to housing and house construction projects. Of course, the primary concern here is the preservation of our earth and a future worth living. But health is also playing an increasingly important role in renovation, refurbishment and new construction. And that also includes mental health. Therefore, healthy living concepts are not only about low pollution, but also about deceleration, well-being and comfort.

As in many other areas of life, we are placing more and more value on prudent manufacturing methods for floor coverings and a long service life. Having to replace a floor covering every 5 years is neither environmentally friendly nor good for our wallets. A natural floor covering can also increase the sense of well-being in the room, thus ensuring both mental and physical health in the long term.

Sustainable Flooring - Top 5 Most Healthy & Eco-Friendly Flooring Solutions

Sustainable flooring is all well and good, but which floors are suitable for healthy and ecro-friendly living? Basically, the most suitable floors for environmentally friendly living concepts are those that are made from post-washing, ideally rapidly renewable raw materials. Both resilient and textile floor coverings as well as hard floor coverings come into question.

1. Natural Fiber Carpet Flooring - Sustainability Meets Comfort

In addition to modern design floors, textile floor coverings such as carpets and carpet tiles also form environmentally friendly solutions for the living area. However, a carpet made of natural fibers such as wool, goat hair or sisal not only convinces with a good environmental balance, but the natural floor covering also increases the comfort in the room and raises the perceived temperature. Thus up to 12% heating costs can be saved. How to save heating costs with a carpet, you can read in our blog post.

By nature, a carpet made of wool brings great properties. Thus, the natural floor covering provides a pleasant indoor climate, because the wool can absorb and release moisture from the room air. The natural floor covering can also absorb odors. In addition, wool carpeting usually brings an anti-static nature, so you can remove dirt more easily. Since the dust is bound by the installation of carpet instead of swirling freely in the air of the room, they are usually suitable for people who are allergic to house dust. It is important that you regularly clean the carpet with a brush vacuum.

2. Vinyl Flooring - Durable Meet Sustainable 

As the call for sustainable flooring becomes louder and louder, manufacturers of vinyl flooring respond and develop so-called "vinyl without vinyl". These are design floors that combine the practical properties of vinyl flooring with naturalness and health. After all, vinyl or PVC in itself does not have the best eco-balance, even though well-known manufacturers are increasingly focusing on manufacturing that is as environmentally friendly as possible. Harmful plasticizers are usually not found in high-quality vinyl floors nowadays anyway.

Basically, you can assume that every vinyl floor is a design floor, but not every design floor is a vinyl floor. Many manufacturers develop natural flooring and call them design flooring. Sometimes these floors also bear the name "natural design floor". Materials such as wood, linseed oil and mineral substances are often used here. In the future, there will certainly be a lot more in this area, because floor manufacturers never tire of developing a natural flooring that combines design strength, durability and naturalness.

3. Parquet Wood Flooring - Classic Among Eco-Friendly Floor Coverings

Of course, if you want a natural floor covering, you can simply go for a wooden floor. A parquet floor is considered very environmentally friendly, but, of course, whole trees have to be cut down for their production. Ideally, when choosing hardwood flooring, look for FSC or PEFC certification to choose a product from responsible forestry.

Although a parquet floor is mostly made of wood, other components are also used in a finished parquet floor, which is not always entirely sustainable. Nevertheless, a parquet is in itself a very good choice, as is a natural floor covering in demand. Since with a parquet floor, every single plank is unique, the floor looks particularly natural and exclusive. So you bring nature home, so to speak!

4. Cork Flooring - Trendy Floor From the Cork Oak Tree

A natural floor covering made of cork is not only highly comfortable and modern, but also particularly sustainable. The reason: for the extraction of the cork, the cork oaks do not have to be felled or damaged. The raw material for cork flooring is therefore obtained without the trees ceasing to bind climate-damaging CO₂ from the atmosphere.

To some extent, adhesive and click cork floors are not only climate-neutral but even climate-positive since the cork oaks bind more CO₂ than is produced during the manufacture of the natural floor covering.

In addition to the optimal ecological balance, a natural floor covering made of cork convinces with many other advantages. The ergonomic properties are already known from sandals. Due to the honeycomb-like structure of cork, the spine is protected when walking and standing and a pleasant walking feeling is created. In addition, a cork floor absorbs impact sound and room noise, creating pleasant room acoustics.

It should not be forgotten that a natural floor covering should also look good. Here, too, a cork parquet can score, because the floor is available as a cork floor in wood look and tile look as well as in original decor variants. Note, however, that not all cork flooring is natural. In some cases, the decorative layer is made of vinyl.

5. Linoleum - Eco-Friendly Floor Covering with Risk of Confusion

Linoleum still has a rather bad reputation, but the floor itself cannot do anything about it. It is much more likely that linoleum flooring is still often confused with PVC flooring. While PVC flooring is vinyl flooring sold by the meter, linoleum consists almost exclusively of natural and most rapidly renewable raw materials. The main components are linseed oil, jute, cork, limestone, and wood flour. Like the PVC floor, the linoleum floor is available in rolls.

From the contract sector to the living room - linoleum moves into the home.

By nature, linoleum has properties that make it an ideal floor, especially for healthcare and educational facilities. As a natural floor covering, linoleum is particularly healthy for the home but also impresses with its outstanding durability. For example, linoleum flooring can usually withstand heavy foot traffic in department stores, is easy to maintain, and is resistant to chemicals.

Since the linoleum yard goods are not so easy to install and are very heavy, it is usually necessary to call in a professional for the installation. Sustainable flooring is linoleum, but you can still choose from numerous colors. Most often, the sustainable flooring shows a subtle marbling, but now there is also linoleum in the wood look.

As green floor covering is suitable, for example, natural fiber carpet and carpet tiles, wood and cork floors, as well as linoleum. Innovative design floors made of wood components, bio-polyurethane and other sustainable materials are also proving to be very contemporary. Those who choose eco-friendly flooring not only protect the environment but also do something good for themselves. Because sustainable floors can increase the well-being in the room and also look very stylish and comfortable thanks to the value of the materials.