In 2001, the whispers about “going Green” began circulating, and in the past two years that whisper has taken over the conversation. Now everyone openly talks about going Green, and when a business creates a new method of conserving, recycling, or using more natural materials, it has now become newsworthy. The housing industry has been one of the biggest to roll out Green options for your home with everything from the ceiling insulation to flooring.

There are myriad of Green flooring providers in the marketplace today. It can be an overwhelming task to go through all the reports, recommendations, and referrals in order to choose a quality provider. Carolina Wood Floors of Winston-Salem, North Carolina has carved out a name for itself over the past 20 years as the expert on hardwood floors, and after taking the time to do the research and legwork, owner Mike Causby recommends EcoFlooring a product line he proudly carries and installs. EcoFlooring is a line of products by Wood Flooring International, a brand that is well-known and trusted in North America for quality and innovation, from the mill all the way to the packaging. EcoFlooring has a wide selection of hardwood flooring with 82 different options, spanning from the popular bamboo to chestnut and cherry. EcoFlooring also offers the same beauty, durability and cleanliness of traditional hardwood flooring.

“Since there is no industry standard at this point for Green wood products, it’s important to know why a company labels their wood products as ‘Green’,” said Mike Causby of Carolina Wood Floors. Causby then followed up by explaining that he partnered with EcoFlooring because each of their products falls into one of five categories that classify the products as Green:

Recycled Wood is the byproduct of other manufacturing processes like sawdust, peeler cores and veneer backer boards. The visible layer of this type of flooring is often made of veneer backer boards, which are left over at the end of the veneer manufacturing process.These boards are typically burned for boiler fuel even though they are actually a prime cut of top-quality logs and they often yield some of the most exquisite straight graining.

Salvaged Logs are any logs that are not harvested from a natural forest or a plantation. For example, they may be sourced from orchards that are being replanted, standing or fallen trees killed by disease or fire, forest thinnings, urban area trees, or even sunken logs raised from river and lake bottoms.

Reclaimed Wood is any type of manufactured wood product that is reused or remanufactured into new products. Using reclaimed wood in home décor would mean installing wood flooring that had been carefully extracted from other buildings.