Eco-friendly flooring

Our climate is changing, our natural resources are dwindling, and the average moggy's carbon footprint looks as though it were made by a yeti. You've heard it all before, and want to do your bit to save the planet.

Changing your flooring may not sound like the answer to environmental harmony, and your options are more limited, but nothing beats that big green smug grin on your face when people coo over your carpet.

The problems

Transportation and manufacture can make floor coverings decidedly ungreen. With so little flooring being produced within the UK these days, your new flooring has to endure a long journey before it even gets to your home. It's particularly ironic that exotic hardwoods or plant-derived carpets such as seagrass, coir and sisal have to be shipped thousands of miles across the world before they are installed.

Then you have to consider how the carpet is made. Even pure wool carpet has a polypropylene backing - that's how it stays in one piece. There's currently only one carpet which is undyed and not filled with nasties - and you can read all about it.