It's worth it to build green! Not only are green product better for the environment, they are better for your health as well. Go GREEN!

Green is not only where it comes from but equally how long it lasts (does it wind up in a landfill?) and what it does it do to you and your family and pets? It ain't Green if its made with toxic chemicals. I don't think bamboo is green, its made with tons of glue. I bought a truly Green floor last year spring from Morgan & Teach Plank Company and its all-natural. The finish is all food ingredients and its gorgeous. I love it, it's easy to clean too. I feel I have the healthiest floor in the world and the wood is from selective logging.

I am glad to hear that you got a great floor that you love and feel is a great green alternative to traditional flooring. I would argue that bamboo can be green and is one of the greenest floors if done right. In researching this product I have found that some bamboo manufacturers use glues from Europe such as Dynea in Finland that is one of the "greenest" adhesives used in manufacturing. In addition, finishes from Swedish company Bona Kemi are known to be "green" and have been embraced by the flooring industry.

I take the green industry very seriously and dont like to see all the green washing advertising that is out there. Certainly several bamboo companies are not green, they cut the bamboo too early, use glues that are far from eco friendly, and finishes with high VOC levels that can cause health issues. But, I wouldnt want to through all bamboo flooring manufacturers into that category as some bamboo companies have gone the long mile to ensure an environmentally friendly product

Very Good Point Jim. I must agree.

This is such a great and easy first step to becoming more green or environmentally friendly. -great ideas

I think it is a great thing that the world has started to realize the impact that the earth is currently taking. It seems that more people and businesses every single day are taking the effort to "go green". People are starting to use aluminum water bottles, re use shopping bags over and over, and use less transmission whether it is carpooling, riding a bike, or taking public transportation.

I think the flooring industry should definitely market their lines of green carpets and other green flooring to the general public more aggressively. I think that if people were aware that they could use bamboo instead of other materials that are bad for the environment, they would in a heartbeat.

Being green should start at home so that you'll be living a lifestyle in a healthy manner and eco-friendly. Patronizing a flooring types with environmentally friendly subjects like a bamboo flooring is a great resources you can provide and invest in your own home. Be wise in choosing a materials for your home.

It strikes me that the definitions of green are pretty dependent on context, and should be judged on a spectrum. When it comes to flooring,I certainly think that bamboo and cork can be called 'green'.

But, since most of these materials come from China and Portugal, you can also see the argument that these materials aren't exactly local, and fall short of many a person's definition of what green means. It takes resources to get them to market.

It will be interesting to see how green standards in LEED and NAHB will evolve the definition. And ultimately, I think that work will be important to making 'green' to be less the exception, and more the rule.

Cheers for the post!

This is such a heated topic and everyone has a opinion-you know what they say about opinions. Here comes mine. To Carol, the term all natural doesn't mean squat. Arsenic is a naturally occuring mineral but I bet I can't offer you any. I agree with Jim P, bamboo can be very eco-friendly and Dynea is a great company and so is Bona. Several companies go to great lengths to ensure their bamboo flooring is green. To Rob J, as far as the transport, what uses more energy - a container ship transporting thousands of containers at once, or a truck transporting one container at a time? Food for thought...but my first guess would be a container ship is more environmentally friendly. We could go back and forth about this but a lot comes down to how companies are allowed to market their product. I would love to see just how green the so called "healthiest floor in the world" really is.

On that note, I'm going to drink some water out of my tap and save another plastic bottle!