By Elise Jones, blog editor
If like many people, you anticipate to renovate your home this year, new floor coverings may be in your future. There are many options to choose from: rugs, wood floor, tile, laminate, concrete and carpet. To each their own as all have their merrits but among environmental experts it is highly recommended to have hard floors over carpets. This is because carpeting holds dust, allergens, heavy metals and anything else you track into your home. Even the best vacuum can’t remove everything from carpet. source
But if you are in the market for a rug or carpet, a word of caution from one friend who wrote to another friend in a recent email about buying carpets: “We were strongly recommended by our contractor to buy a wall-to-wall (carpet) that is made in the US & not abroad as more chemicals etc used in rugs not made here.”
This statement caused quite a reaction from my friends on that email chain and rightfully so. Do we want the rugs & carpets that our children crawl, play, eat, lay and walk on a daily basis to be full of chemicals that are passed onto their hands, feet and potentially mouths? What about the smell that comes from the carpets? Inhaling it can not be good.
So off I went to research the validity of this claim as well as what we can do about it. Here’s what I found:
– If you do a quick Google search of smell in rugs there are many, many instances of Pottery Barn, Room & Board, IKEA area rugs smelling like burnt rubber… for YEARS. The smell is all attributed to the latex glue backing of the rugs that allegedly contains the chemical chlordane and emits something called VOCs and/or that the rugs are dipped in a solution before being imported in order to rid them of bugs during shipping. source
– Some carpets contain high levels of VOCs, which can negatively add to indoor and outdoor air pollution. *VOCs are toxic, carbon–based chemical compounds that can cause sneezing, headaches and nausea and are even associated with increased cancer risk. source
– Carpet & Rug Institute offers Green Label and Green Label Plus testing and certification to indicate carpet, carpet backings, cushions and adhesives that emit low VOCs. source
What can you do when buying a rug or carpet:
– Buy wool! It is recommended you buy a wool rug or carpet because it is considered environmentally friendly flooring as the resource used to produce it is renewable, biodegradable and recyclable. Look carefully at the materials in your rug when you buy because nylon is the most common material for construction of carpets. Other materials used are polypropylene (berber carpets), wool, polyester and acrylic. source
– Buy local! Dalton, Georgia produces 90% of the USA’s carpeting, rugs, and hardwood flooring. source
– Ask what it’s in it! For environmental reasons, the use of wool, natural bindings, natural padding, and formaldehyde-free glues is becoming more common. So look for those materials when shopping. source
– Is it certified? Another fact you might look into when buying a carpet or rug is if it is GoodWeave certified. Child labor has often been used in Asia to make rugs. The GoodWeave label used throughout Europe and North America assures that child labour has not been used. source
So when you are in the market for new flooring, check the facts and do a little research before buying a good deal or something that looks pretty. Simple questions can help make sure your health is not at risk too!
Have any suggestions or questions for our Green Parenting blog? Email elise@babybites.com.
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Like what you see? Here are some more Green Parenting columns:
- Poisonous Apple & Grape Juice
- Genetically Engineered Food- To Label or Not to Label
- What’s Up With Green Laundry Detergent?
- The Peanut Butter Jar
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