Carpeting is the ubiquitous floor covering in the United States, desired as much for its texture as for its ability to cover a variety of hidden sins underneath. Carpet provides a soft, warm, and sound-absorbing surface. Combine all that with carpeting’s low cost per square foot and it’s the most selected floor covering in the country, covering 70% of American floors.

However, in its short life span, carpet attracts dust and allergens. Once considered the status symbol of a luxurious home, carpet is now among a long list of related indoor air-quality problems and material-waste issues. (Nearly 5 billion pounds of discarded carpet end up in landfills each year.)

In the 1990s, after receiving over 500 complaints about carpet-related health effects, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) commissioned a study examining carpet chemical emissions. The landmark study identified dozens of toxic chemicals released from carpets, many of them known carcinogens. That “new carpet smell” is the smell of chemicals being released into the air.

Warning: Carpet, especially wall-to-wall carpet, has several inherent environmental issues:

• It is typically made from synthetic, oil-based materials. These materials are considered toxic and release harmful chemicals.
  

• Carpet is typically backed with vinyl (PVC). Vinyl is harmful at every stage of its life cycle.
  

• The synthetic and mixed materials make carpet (nearly) impossible to recycle.
  

• Carpet requires a great deal of energy to maintain, because it must be vacuumed.

• Vacuuming alone does not clean carpet, and instead creates an environment in which pests, mold, and mildew can reside. Carpet is host to numerous indoor air-quality issues, including the spread of asthma.
  

Luckily, a select group of carpet manufacturers have addressed some or all of these issues. Some of these initiatives include such wonderful ideas as:

• Carpet made from natural, renewable fibers and materials
  

• Carpet backed with natural, healthy materials like wool
  

• Take-back programs, where the manufacturers accept the carpet at the end of its use and recycle it back into their supply chain
  

Carpet tile, which is an environmentally preferable alternative to wall-to-wall carpeting, because damaged tiles can be individually replaced without having to replace an entire floor (Although it takes more energy to produce the tiles, several manufacturers, such as Interface [http://www.interfaceflor.com], produce a recycled content and recyclable carpet tile in a wide array of interesting colors and patterns.)
Used sparingly at entranceways, carpet can be used to control pollutants being tracked into a building.

Look for the Carpet and Rug Institute’s Green Label Plus certification as an assurance of sustainability (see Green Certification Programs).

Tip: Padding is installed below the rug as a cushion. Avoid synthetic padding; opt for natural jute padding instead. If installed over concrete, adhesives are often used to glue it down. Skip the glue; it typically contains toxic VOCs and makes replacing or removing the carpet much more difficult. In addition, the glue guarantees that the carpet will be unrecyclable.  ....read more