Go Green With Hardwood Floors!

Separate your garbage and recycle paper and plastics. Bring your own reusable bags to the supermarket. Change your lightbulbs to CFLs. Use reusable water bottles. These may be kind to the environment, but they require extra work from us. In fact many of the environmentally friendly steps we can take or products we can use require extra effort on our part or do not give us the same results we have come to be used to.

There is one environmentally friendly step we can take that will actually increase the beauty of our homes or workplaces. Install hardwood flooring! The United States Senate Resolution S. Res. 411recognizes hardwood as an environmentally preferable building material. Here are some facts:

• United States hardwood inventory has more than doubled in the past 50 years.

• Annual hardwood growth exceeds annual hardwood removals by a margin of nearly two to one. 

• Annual growth of hardwoods in the United States has exceeded annual removals since 1952.

• The Senate has mandated that United States hardwoods and products made from these hardwoods must be considered for construction in any program that promotes itself as environmentally friendly.

So, be kind to the environment and let GR Flooring beautify your home with hardwood floors!

Hardwood Flooring is Environmentally Friendly

Did you know that hardwood flooring is not only beautiful, but is also environmentally friendly? With a multitude of choices available, installing hardwood flooring in your home allows you to be creative and care for our environment at the same time!

Sustainable forest management allows wood to be harvested without causing serious harm to the environment due to the fact that trees are a renewable resource. Here are some facts taken from the National Wood Flooring Association's website:

• Average annual net growth for hardwoods is greater than average annual removals (Source: US Department of Agriculture Forest Service)
• Indoor air quality is better with wood floors (Source: US Environmental Protection Agency)
• Wood is a carbon neutral product that produces oxygen during its growth cycle and stores carbon during its service life (Source: University of Wisconsin Wood Products Program Solid Wood Flooring Life Cycle Analysis)
• Wood floors use less water and energy to produce than other flooring options (Source: University of Wisconsin Wood Products Program Solid Wood Flooring Life Cycle Analysis)
• At the end of its service life, wood flooring can be burned as fuel or recycled (Source: University of Wisconsin Wood Products Program Solid Wood Flooring Life Cycle Analysis)
• Wood floors last hundreds of years, so won’t need to be replaced as often as other flooring options (Source: National Association of Home Builders)
• While it takes most hardwood trees 40-60 years to mature, the inventory planted today won’t be needed for 100-plus years (Source: National Wood Flooring Association)
  Learn about installing hardwood flooring in YOUR home by calling GR Flooring and speaking with one of our professionals!