Carpet Replacement... at the intersection of Animal Rights and Environmentalism.

[Guest guest]

I need to re-carpet my place. Here's the deal, I am torturing myself

over the " right thing to do. " We all know the issues involved with

wool and the terrible treatment of sheep in Australia/New Zealand

(where virtually all wool used in carpeting comes from). The other

major carpet fiber is nylon, and the environmental issues involved in

making and disposing of nylon are tremendous.

 

The animal rights advocate in me wants to do one thing; the

environmentalist another.

 

Frankly, I have this issue with faux leather products as well. I've

pretty much replaced anything leather (shoes, belts, wallets) with the

faux stuff, but frankly, neither choice sits well. All the faux stuff

is made from noxious petrochemicals.

 

Thoughts? Thanks.

myles

[Guest guest]

The way I look at it is that, yes, synthetic fibers and materials do have a substantial impact on the environment, but animal fibers and materials have that too - plus they have the cruelty factor. But the modern processing of animal products is not measurably less caustic to the planet than synthetic products are. If there is not an environmentally friendly choice, at least go with the one that involves less animal suffering.Have you considered any options other than carpet? Laminate floors that resemble wood are mostly made of wood fibers - some are even recycled, I believe. There are probably environmental negatives with these, too, but I think they might be less. Bamboo is also an option, and is very popular right now. Bamboo is really a type of grass, so it doesn't require cutting down trees to

produce.Good luck with your decision.-Mike Borg ______________________ "Man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats flesh, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite and to act so is immoral." ~ Tolstoy

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[Guest guest]

Another thing you may want to keep in mind is that carpets are much more likely to retain various trypes of allergens than non-carpeted floors (bamboo, laminate, hardwood etc) no matter how much you vaccum. From what I've read, bamboo or sustainably-harvested hardwood floors are the best way to go (and IMHO, aesthetically bamboo or hardwood floors look much classier than carpeting).I think bamboo may be cheaper but I'm not sure. If you do decide to go the carpeting route, probably the best advice I can give is that get something you will be happy with for a long time (so you won't need to replace it as most of the eco-damage is due to the manufacturing, transportation and disposal process). You may also want to check out Grist or Dwell (you can google them) and see what they have to say about it.

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