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webuyitgreen User is Offline

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Posts:6

04/19/2008 4:47 PM
I actually had this question come up in another green forum and thought I could get some help with it here. "Considering changing carpeting in a few bedrooms. 100 year old house. Hardwood floors under carpet should be OK (birch I think). Not in a big rush. Not a do-it-myselfer. What are best/most "green" options? Refinish floors? If re-carpet, what kinds?" Thanks. webuyitgreen.com

cmkavala

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Posts:804

04/19/2008 5:27 PM
Webuyitgreen; I noticed that you sell bamboo: at a recent "Green Building" seminar it was discussed that bamboo is no longer being considered "green" due to the enormous amounts of fuel needed to import to the US Was wondering if you had heard that yet?

Chris Kavala chris@southernsips.com 1-877-321-SIPS

webuyitgreen User is Offline

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04/19/2008 8:17 PM
Hi Chris, Thanks for the information. I had not yet heard that about bamboo. But I should clarify that I don't sell the products. I allow other businesses who claim to sell green products/services to advertise free of charge on the site. I do offer a definition of "green" on the site as a guideline and refer users to Dr. David Allen's discussion of some of the difficulties involved in determining whether specific products are green. The site is at http://www.utexas.edu/research/ceer/che302/greenproduct/pages/whatisgreenproducts.htm. He gets into exactly the sort of "trade-off" issues you have mentioned--a product like bamboo may have the advantage of being rapidly renewable on the one hand, but if it is transported great distances, the fuel used to transport it may outweigh that advantage in an overall assessment of cradle to grave impact of the product on the environment. If that is the case, then I assume that bamboo becomes a green product as you approach destinations closer to where it is grown. This raises questions, for example, about whether it would be "green" in Hawaii, but not California. I don't know at what point it becomes green, and I don't have the expertise to be the "green monitor" for the site, determining which products are truly green and which are not. But this is why I think the forum is an important and useful context for a site that advertises green products for businesses. People like you are free to go to the sight and raise this question about a particular claim to be green, educating the rest of us. As others respond, hopefully we all begin to move toward consensus around these issues and become more intelligent consumers--at least that is my hope for the site. The idea is that--as with Wikipedia--many eyes will create a degree of quality control. But it depends on people like yourself who have knowledge about a particular product contributing that to the site by posting it for us. I hope you'll do that. I appreciate your input.

cmkavala

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Posts:804

04/19/2008 8:22 PM
To add insult to injury I have not had success with bamboo floors in Florida having to replace on two jobs for cupping and home depot not standing behind their warranty

Chris Kavala chris@southernsips.com 1-877-321-SIPS

webuyitgreen User is Offline

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Posts:6

04/21/2008 10:17 AM
Anybody have information about my original question about green floor-covering options for this guy? Or do you know where he should go to get help with it? He lives in the Chicago area. webuyitgreen.com

cmkavala

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Posts:804

04/21/2008 10:39 AM
Shaw carpet makes "green" carpet,

Chris Kavala chris@southernsips.com 1-877-321-SIPS

Jelly

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Posts:268

04/21/2008 2:34 PM
100 year old hardwood floors? Seems like a no-brainer to let them show. Carpet is bad for allergies/asthma.

webuyitgreen User is Offline

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Posts:6

04/21/2008 10:47 PM
Any thoughts on the best "green" finish if he decides to go hardwood?

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