Natural Environment Blog

Now that many designers and manufacturers have gone green, there are more environmentally friendly products for the home than ever before. When it comes to floors, consumers now have many sustainable options for their homes and businesses that are affordable, durable, and attractive. You can achieve a designer look for your floor and still maintain your commitment to work with eco-friendly materials.

Traditional Bamboo

Moso bamboo is most typically used in bamboo flooring materials. Bamboo is a highly sustainable and durable material that has become the darling of the green flooring trend. Because bamboo is easily renewable on bamboo farms, it is one of the most eco-friendly solutions you can choose for your home. Moreover, its similarity to hardwood makes it a favorite choice among designers. Bamboo is also water and insect resistant and, despite being a grass, can be just as durable as many tough woods.

Strandwoven Bamboo

Shredded and compressed, tough strandwoven bamboo is a solid choice of flooring for commercial areas or floors that see a lot of foot traffic. The intense pressure and green adhesives used to manufacture strandwoven bamboo create a material that is twice as hard as oak and more durable than traditional bamboo. Its high performance rating has made it a popular choice for schools, malls, stores, and other commercial locations as well as for residential situations.

Strandwoven Wood

Using strandwoven timber scraps for flooring is a great sustainable option. Made from recycled wood scraps, strandwoven wood flooring is a compelling choice for an authentic wood floor. Strandwoven wood floors are made from discarded wood materials from the furniture-making and pulp industries. Recycling this material to make flooring is a brilliant way to produce a quality product with a unique look.

Eucalyptus

As a fast-growing hard wood, eucalyptus is an environmentally responsible flooring option. Eucalyptus can be harvested at fourteen years; although it isn’t as quickly replaced as bamboo at four years, it is still much quicker than traditional hard woods. Often compared in appearance to tropical mahogany, eucalyptus is extremely durable and affordable.

Tile

Many tiles are now created with recycled materials like glass, stone, and even plastic. Because a tile floor can last for decades—even fifty years—it is regarded as an eco-friendly flooring option. Tile floors are strong and easy to maintain; cleaning with green products will enhance your tile floor and keep it looking attractive for years to come. Modern tiles come in a plethora of styles and designs; from elegant to rustic, you can achieve a top-notch design look and still achieve a green floor that is easy on the environment.

Concrete

Because it can last a lifetime and eliminate the need for other flooring, concrete floors can be a wonderfully durable and earth-friendly choice. Since concrete is made with limestone—one of the most abundant minerals on the planet—it is regarded as a greener option than traditional wood floors. Today’s concrete is often made with waste by-products that are typically available locally. Concrete can also be enhanced with colors and patterns to achieve a great design look for any home.

Cork

Cork flooring is made from the cork oak’s bark; safely removing the bark does not harm the tree. Because it absorbs moisture, cork is not a recommended option for bathrooms, but it is a favorite flooring material for high traffic area because of its ability to “spring” back into shape. Sustainable and comfortable to walk on, cork is a solid choice for an earth-friendly material.

Carpets

When composed entirely of renewable materials like wool or seagrass, carpeting can be a very green choice of flooring for your home. There are also highly innovative carpets made from such items as recycled bicycle inner tubes and even old carpets. Carpeting and rugs made from recycled materials can be just as decorative and comfortable as traditional carpets.

By choosing a green option to fulfill your flooring needs, you can positively impact the earth and set a responsible example for all who come into contact with it. By selecting any of these flooring materials, you can create the look you want at an affordable price. By choosing a green floor, you sacrifice nothing in the looks or durability departments and you gain your own healthy corner of the planet.

Author Bio: Guest post contributed by Kris Rayner, for Empire Today.

The world’s tallest known hardwood tree has been found in Tasmania, Australia.

The tree, dubbed Centurion, is a eucalyptus tree (or eucalyptus regnans), standing at 101 meters tall. 

Forestry Tasmania managing director Bob Gordon says, “It is the only known standing hardwood tree in the world to be over 100 metres tall”.  

Actually, Centurion has broken two records. It is also the tallest flowering plant in the world.

According to some news reports, Centurion is the second tallest tree in the world - second only to this giant redwood. But I beg to differ. I can name 15 redwoods that are taller than Centurion. 

But not to take anything away from Centurion. Centurion is a hardwood tree. The giant California redwoods are softwood trees. Also, Centurion is classified as a flowering plant (and the tallest a that!).

Centurion is not the only tall eucalyptus tree to be seen in Australia. Eucalyptus trees are amongst the tallest trees ever recorded. The challenge these days, is to allow them to grow to their full potential without chopping them down.

Centurion, which measures 405 centimeters in diameter, is located about 5 kilometers from Tahune Airwalk, a popular tourist walk through the tree tops. Forestry Tasmania plan to create a boardwalk to Centurion so that the public can view the massive tree.

About the Name “Centurion”

A centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army in charge of 100 soldiers. Well, to be precise, centurions initially commanded a centuria, or “century” of 100 soldiers. Later, they commanded 60 men. Then this number rose to 80 soldiers.

Let’s hope that Centurion (the tree) doesn’t lose the number of trees its in charge of!

I’ve already posted about the tallest tree in the world. And I’ve posted about the top 15 tallest California redwood trees, which are the tallest known living trees today.

In this post, I’ll talk about the tallest tree ever recorded. Or maybe that should be, the tallest trees ever recorded.

Australia’s Eucalyptus regnans trees (also referred to as Eucalyptus trees) have been widely regarded as the tallest trees ever recorded.

Here’s a list of some of the tallest Eucalyptus trees ever recorded:

• Many sources have stated that the tallest tree ever recorded is the “Ferguson Tree” (measured by William Ferguson). On February 21, 1872, the fallen tree was measured at 132.6 meters (435 feet) - and that was after the top had broken off! The trunk, where it had broken off, was still a meter in diameter, and some estimated that the tree could have been taller than 152.4 meters (500 feet) tall.
• Another tall tree was the “Robinson Tree” (measured by G.W. Robinson) at Mount Baw Baw. In 1889, the Robinson Tree was found to be 143 meters (470 feet) tall.
• In 1867 another Eucalyptus tree was measured at 132.9 meters (436 feet)
• A Eucalytus tree known as T. Rolla Tree was measured at 124.9 meters (410 feet)
• The “David Boyle Tree” (measured by David Boyle) was located in the Dandenong Ranges (near Melbourne). In 1862 it was measured at 119 meters (390 feet), but it had fallen and had a broken top. David estimated that the tree would have been 128 meters (420 feet) if it’d kept it’s top.
• In 1888, the Menzies Creek tree was measured at 122 meters (400 feet) after it had fallen.
• In 1866, the C Walter tree was said to be 118.8 meters (390 feet)
• In 1880, the Cornthwaite tree was measured at 114 meters (374 feet) after it had been cut down. It was located in South Gippsland in the Thorpdale area.

Isn’t it a shame that the tallest trees always seem to get cut down?