6 different kitchen floors that are healthy and green

Are you buying for looks or for function? It can be a tough call.
After publishing Pros and cons of 6 different kinds of wood floors I was asked "What about kitchens?" It has taken a while to get around to it because it's not easy picking a kitchen floor. It has to do so many things.
Functionally, you want a kitchen floor to be:
- Water-resistant or waterproof to handle spills and regular washing
- Durable because there is a lot of traffic in a small area
- Resilient and shock absorbing because people are standing a lot, and you don't want everything that drops to break instantly
- Attractive, particularly for those open kitchens where the flooring goes everywhere
Vinyl


Wood Floors

Tile Floors
Ceramic and other tile floors are durable, water resistant and easy to clean, but are really hard underfoot. If you do a lot of cooking, a gel mat can make a big difference in the work areas. If you drop anything hard and heavy, something is going to break, either the object or a floor tile.Concrete and Terrazzo

Rubber
There are a number of companies making rubber tile or roll flooring, from both natural rubber (which some people are allergic to because of the latex) and synthetic rubber (made from styrene.) It is used a lot in hospitals because it is easy to maintain and is softer underfoot. Many meet the Red List of the Living Building Challenge and are free of any toxic chemicals. But they are expensive.Linoleum/ Marmoleum

Cork
In a past life when I was the developer of Kensington Market Lofts in Toronto, I chose cork as the standard floor. It was affordable, it was sound absorbing, it installed quickly and easily, and as the Toronto Loft ads show, it still looks good.If I were doing my kitchen now, I would definitely go cork. It is durable, it is resilient, it is a renewable resource. Some might complain that it is not local, but it doesn't fly across the ocean. The flooring is actually pressed together from the pieces after wine corks are stamped out, so it is using every scrap. Its harvesting is carefully regulated, and its forests provide habitat for endangered species like the Iberian Linx. It is even anti-microbial thanks to suberin, which fends off mold and rot.It is available in sheets, tiles or engineered planks. Avoid the planks; they suffer from the same issues as all engineered floors. It looks good enough that it can go everywhere in your open kitchen and living area.Are you buying for looks or for function?
This is a problem with modern open kitchens – what you want in the living spaces is not necessarily what you want in a kitchen. Realistically, people have to think about how much they really cook, how much time they actually spend in the kitchen, and then chose a floor that works in both living and cooking spaces. That's why I love cork so much; it does both so well.
And this is another reason I believe the open kitchen should die.