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Eco-friendly flooring

This month we take a look at how to make a dramatic and eco-friendly statement when it comes to choosing the right floor for your home.

Creating a timeless asthetic to your home starts from the bottom and works its way up. Choosing the perfect flooring to balance out your interior design ideas can be daunting. With so many options available out there, we take a look at some of the most durable and eco-friendly ways you can change your flooring, to get your ideal home.

CORK: Predominantly made in Mediterranean countries, cork is 100% natural and renewable, and biodegradable. It is harvested from the bark of the tree, so the tree can keep on living. A perfect sound and thermal insulator that doesn’t cause allergies.

Granorte has a brilliant back-story as this Portuguese company uses cork that would normally be discarded during wine bottling. Each cork tree has a life span of about 300 years and when they’re over 25 years they can be used to harvest cork (this is normally undertaken every 9 years). The cork bark is regenerative making it a renewable, environmentally friendly resource. Using this material, Granorte have created a range of cork floor options, from natural cork tiles through to printed cork planks that replicate the look of timber. An example of their work is shown in the pictire above

STONE: The enviromental impact of mining stone and marble can ring alarm bells when coming to decide what’s best for your home. Locally sourced stone, may be a good choice for when you are choosing a small part of your home to decorate, however dragging stone from one part of the world to another will dramatically increase your carbon footprint.

One option is to choose a man-made material which is made to

Neolith Iron Frost www.neolith.com Sisal & Seagrass, Coir Boucle www.sisalandseagrass.co.uk look like stone. Neolith is Sintered Stone - an all-natural, man-made material which is made to look like genuine stone such as marble, granite and even wood and metal, but which is much more durable, scratch/stain/waterproof, ultra-hygienic and produced in a carbon neutral environment.

CONCRETE: Concrete is one of the most environmentally friendly building materials available today. Concrete is a mixture of cement, water,air, sand, and gravel; all readily available natural resources that can even improve air quality and cut down on heating bills. Extremely durable, easy to source and easy recyclable, it’s even scratch resistant.

GLASS: Glass tiles are often made from recycled materials and require less energy than ceramic made tiles. Even toward the end of their life, when you want to change your flooring, they are easily turned into a new feature within your home, to help reduce landfill. Not only are glass tiles easy to clean, but they are impervious to water with absorbency rate of 0%, perfect for the bathroom or kitchen. Glass also comes in a variety of different translucent colours, to make your home feel brighter and larger.

WOOL: Wool is a durable material with many benefits. Not only is it a natural insulator, it is renewable and flame retardant. The sustainable fibre is also highly resilient and recovers quickly from furniture compression.

Sisal & Seagrass, specialise in using only natural material floors in their collection, from sisal, coir, jute, pure wool and seagrass. All are sustainable and natural products that can be used within the home.

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Havwoods Foresso®️ - The Timber Terrazzo from: £294.95 per m2 www.havwoods.com They recently introduced a bespoke Rug Creator tool so that home owners and interior designers can create a rug that fits in with their home or project. Their Pure Wool collection is created from 100% British wool yarn and patterns are created using various breeds meaning there are no harmful dying processes.

RECLAIMED WOOD: One of the most eco friendly and budget ways to re-do your flooring is to use reclaimed wood. Using reclaimed wood reduces land fill and reduces the demand for newly sourced materials. Plus, it gives your home a unique aged look, that new timber just can not provide. There are many companies that specialise in reclaimed timber, but you can also find what you need on local marketplaces and eBay.

A unique twist on reclaimed wood is the new wood flooring design from Havwoods. Havwoods bring a fresh take to wood flooring design, with their Foresso®️ collection. Their design has been made in Britain utilising a minimum of 65% waste material, making it an innovative and eco-friendly surface solution for interior design and construction. The new innovative concept is a timber terrazzo that has been beautifully crafted with sustainably sourced timber - forming a one of a kind materials.

BAMBOO: Strand woven bamboo is a sure fire way to make your home look beautiful and it’s pretty high in the environmentally frienly stakes. Bamboo has a similarity to hardwood in its strength, durability and resistence to water. Native to China and Japan, the root is left in tact when harvesting so the plant can easily reharvest. Bamboo flooring is hygienic, easy to clean and great for allergy sufferers, and is more cost effective than hardwood. n By Daisy Bennett

New RHS awards celebrate blossoming community spirit

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) will celebrate community gardening across the UK through the RHS Community Awards this year.

The new virtual awards replace the RHS Britain in Boom UK Finals competition for 2021 – for the first time in the campaign’s 57-year history - and will see Britain in Bloom groups recognised for their efforts to transform their local areas. Last year nine in every ten groups* carried on gardening, maintaining our all-important green spaces and harnessing their skills to help others, from growing food to lifting people’s spirits via imaginative planting displays.

Walthamstow Village, London, shared virtual tours of their area, Penrith volunteers grew crops for food parcels and in Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire, plants and gardening tools were delivered to care home residents. A total of 63 groups will participate across five categories having been nominated by one of the 16 Britain in Bloom UK regions and nations.Entrants range from Truro, Britain in Bloom winner in 2018, to groups such as Gosfield, Essex, that are first-timers on the national stage.

Groups will submit evidence digitally in up to three award categories to a panel of Bloom and RHS horticultural, wildlife and environmental experts.

The categories are:

• Nourishing Your Community - Growing, sharing or enjoying food with others • Nature-friendly Gardening - Creating habitats and using wildlife-friendly gardening practices • Green Solutions – Tackling environmental challenges such as climate change, air pollution and flooding • Cultivating Your Community – Bringing people together by involving a wide cross-section of the community • Planting with Purpose - Addressing specific challenges such as transforming a neglected area or reducing antisocial behaviour

The results of the RHS Community Awards, including the most outstanding entries in each category, will be announced at the end of September with all participants receiving certificates.

For more information about RHS Britain in Bloom and to search for community gardening groups in your area please visit www.rhs.org.uk/ communities/find-a-group-search-form n