Green Underfoot

This post is dedicated to our old friend, the carpet. Carpet is the number-one floor covering in the United States for several reasons: comfort, ease of purchase, affordability. Unfortunately, it's also pretty nasty, environmentally speaking.

Carpets are either woven or tufted, in which case they are tied and glued to a backing. With the exception of those made of wool, almost all carpets are made of petroleum-based fabric. Dalton, Georgia, the carpet capital of the U.S., produces millions of gallons of wastewater annually from the chemical-intensive processes of manufacturing and dyeing petroleum-based carpet fabric. In addition, the adhesives used to glue the fibers together contain benzene and toluene, toxic VOCs that outgas into the environment, especially when the carpet is new.

In order to avoid some of these environmental pitfalls, consider purchasing wool carpet, which uses far fewer chemicals in the manufacturing process. The Carpet and Rug Institute's "Green Label Plus" standards can help you find a carpet with low-VOC adhesives, thus avoiding chemical offgasing. Some carpet pads are made of wool or recycled materials that don't require adhesives, so look around before buying.

Other carpet drawbacks include the collection of mold, mites, and environmental toxins. Large area rugs made from natural fibers can be shaken and vacuumed on both sides, which helps eliminate some of the trapped particles.

Fortunately, there are a number of sources of enviro-friendly carpets. Classic Rug Collection offers hemp rugs dyed with vegetable dye. Zaki Oriental Rugs specializes in hand-spun, vegetable-dyed, wool rugs. The water used in the dyeing process for Tufenkian's rugs passes through a purification plant and is reused.

Of course, buying an antique rug falls under the category of reuse, which is always a good option for the environment. Apadana, Metropolitan Carpet, and Markarian are three good local sources for antique rugs.