Forbo Floors Puts the “Green” Back in Linoleum

If redoing your floor is at the top of your home remodel list in 2008, make sure you check out Forbo.

The company specializes in environmentally-friendly, fashionably designed linoleum. Its Marmoleum brand, made from linseed oil, wood flour, rosin, jute and limestone, has earned rave reviews not only because it comes in enough colors to satisfy Picasso.  Marmoleum is made with natural raw materials and solvent-free adhesives that emit no harmful VOCs (volatile organic compounds), so it won’t give you a headache or otherwise pollute the air after it’s been laid down. In fact, Marmoleum has no adverse health effects whatsoever, either during production, its useful life, or disposal.  Even if your biggest concern is dust, Marmoleum is a winner, since the product’s anti-static properties mean that dust and dirt don’t easily stick to it.

What makes Marmoelum so “eco” is Forbo’s attention to the product’s “life cycle”: the raw materials it is made with, how they’re manufactured, and ultimately, how they’re reused or disposed at the end of their useful life. The company meets the Big Green Purse “who else says so?” principle for production (and marketing) by undergoing 3rd party verification of all its “good and green” claims. In this case, Marmoleum has achieved the SMART © Sustainable Product Platinum rating, meaning it creates almost no environmental impact: Raw materials and energy are used efficiently, waste is recycled wherever possible, and emissions are kept to an absolute minimum (in other words, the floor you buy can help reduce climate change).

What about price?

As Mary Hunt points out over at www.InWomenWeTrust.com, “It’s less expensive than granite, but like granite can be used in counter tops as well as flooring. (While granite may be “natural” it isn’t necessarily sustainable. You’ve seen what open mines look like, right?)”

With so much talk going on these days about what’s “green” and what’s being “greenwashed,” Forbo and its Marmoleum floors are the real deal, and they’re backed up by standards to prove it.

Thumbs up, Forbo.