Remodeling Your Home With Eco-Friendly, Non-Toxic Materials

Thought about remodeling your home? Maybe you have considered painting or installing new lighting or flooring. Well before you run off to the Home Depot consider your family's health. Many products like paint contain VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds) which contribute to sick building syndrome because of their high vapour pressure. VOC's are often used in paint, carpet backing, plastics, paint strippers and wood preservatives.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that concentrations of VOCs in indoor air can be 2 to 5 times greater than in outdoor air. During certain activities indoor levels of VOCs may reach 1,000 times that of the outside air. When you paint a room you are releasing toxic fumes into your family's environment forcing them to breath in these VOCs. Paint releases low-level, toxic emissions into the air for up to 5 years after application. That means that when your child is lying in their newly painted nursery, they could be breathing paint fumes until they are 5 years old!

Paint isn't the only home improvement product that can be hazardous to your health. The preservatives in wood or in the carpet backing can make you sick. Thankfully there are companies out there that specialize in low VOC and eco-friendly home improvement products. AFM offers Safecoat paint which goes much further to protect your health than most paints. In addition to meeting the highest standards of environmental responsibility, they also eliminate toxic ingredients such as solvents, heavy metals, chemical residuals, formaldehyde and other harmful preservatives.

Flooring options these days have also improved from a health standpoint. Bamboo wood floors have become an eco-friendly favorite. Unlike traditional hardwoods, bamboo when harvested does not require replanting. Mature bamboo has an extensive root system that continues to send up new shoots for decades. Plyboo is a bamboo wood flooring and paneling manufacturer who's bamboo is formaldehyde and toxin free.

Carpet manufacturers are now using recycled and or natural materials to make carpet and there are companies offering non-toxic carpet glues and padding. Wool carpeting is a healthy non-toxic alternative to standard nylon, olefin or other synthetic carpets that off-gass toxic chemicals, don't last very long and are not biodegradable. Wool carpets are: odor-free, renewable, longer lasting, fire-resistant, air purifying, softer, and biodegradable. Nature's Carpet is a wool carpet manufacturer worth checking out as well as Healthier Choice'swhich is manufactured with 100% new/virgin mechanically frothed polyurethane formulation containing ultra-fresh antimicrobial chemicals to virtually eliminate odor causing mold, mildew, and fungus that may contact your carpet cushion. carpet padding.

So before you rush out to buy home improvement products at your local reseller try some of these healthier choices. The cost is the same as traditionally used materials and the health benefits are priceless. Check out Green Building Supply online for these and other great product resources and information.