TreeHugger Picks: Carpets and Rugs
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA
on 03. 8.06

TreeHugger knows that there are few things that really tie the room together better than sustainable rugs and carpets. Here are our favorite floorcoverings.
1) Like Sly needed the family Stone, every good carpet needs good backing; Ethos carpet backing is recovered from recycled car windshields.
2) Nani Marquina's Bicicleta carpet, made from recycled bicycle inner tubes, was inspired by the sheer number of bicycles in India.
3) Get the feeling of cashmere, velvet and alpaca all rolled together with Soy Luxe carpet.
4) When it comes to wool carpets, you can't go wrong with Nature's Carpet and Earthweave.
5) We can't say carpet without thinking Interface, so much we've featured them no less than one two three more times.
6) When your carpet's life has come to an end, be sure to look up Invista, who reclaims carpets of all shapes, sizes and colors so you don't have to pitch it.
7) If you have Enviro6ix carpet, there's no need to worry about throwing it out; it can be recycled into new carpet again and again.
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Nice picks! I love my Interface tiles.
Are there any rating systems for sustainable carpets? Any way to compare them without researching every one?
a lot of these manufacturers seem to be overseas (australia pops up a lot). am i canceling out the good i'm trying to do by buying an environmentally friendly carpet when i have to have it shipped to me from the other side of the planet?
Seems that not all of us can recycle our carpet when we are ready to take it up. Only a few reclaimation centers across the US and most of these "programs" like Enviro6ix are for commercial jobs not for us homeowners and carry big minimums. Really don't know how they get away with saying it is recyclable if it is not available to all.