Every once in a while, as part of my duties as a writer for the Home &Garden section of The Herald, I stumble upon a cool green product that seems to be truly green, not just greenwashed.
Bamboo, as all good Eco Geeks know, is a great choice for going green in your home because it’s a fast-growing more sustainable wood crop.
EcoTimber of San Rafael, Calif., however, has taken bamboo to the next level with a new woven bamboo flooring line.
Made of bamboo strands pressed together with a durable resin, it can be sanded and refinished just like hardwood. It is significantly harder than most tropical hardwoods, making it ideal for high-traffic settings.
It comes from sustainably harvested, renewable bamboo grown on plantations without pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers, according to the company. EcoTimber’s bamboo reportedly reaches maturity in five to seven years, which is speedy compared to woods of comparable hardness, which can take 50 to 150 years to mature.
Here’s my favorite part: Unlike many other wood-resin products, it does not contain urea formaldehyde, a common indoor air pollutant, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
EcoTimber also offers a variety of other Forest Service Council-certified wood flooring made with formaldehyde-free and “zero-VOC” adhesives.
I spotted numerous cool floor options on the Web site, including solid bamboo, hand-scraped hickory and oak and exotics such as Brazilian cherry — available as prefinished engineered floors in most cases — plus reclaimed wide-plank rustic products such as antique northern yellow pine and country oak.
Woven bamboo costs $5.99 per square foot. Installation is not included. See www.ecotimber.com for a full list of retailers, mostly in the Seattle area.
Do you have any kind of bamboo flooring at home? How is it working out?
Please comment below or write me here to share your stories.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
