Cork Floors Helps Save The Environment
If global warming is making you feel a little antsy and you are considering different ways to give a little back to the earth, then consider cork flooring as the option to go with for your home flooring needs. Create a home that works with nature without sacrificing comfort and beauty. Innovation and technology has furnished us with a material that helps to minimize the carbon impact on our eco-systems, one that has been around for millenniums but is only now gaining true popularity as flooring. Yes cork did have a rather poor reputation in previous decades as a flooring material. This is due to subpar manufacturing processes and lack of visual diversity. Today you can find cork in a variety of colors, design patterns and even different grades of quality. It truly is up to you what you want and how serious you are about protecting your cork floor investment.
Natural cork is the bark of the cork oak tree. Only the bark. In cork’s highest producing country, Portugal, these precious trees are not cut down. Cork trees in Portugal are protected by very strict laws. They can live for up to two centuries before needing to be replaced. The bark is peeled every decade or so and the tree is left alone to regenerate In the Mediterranean area where the largest forests exist, you’ve already got mass production. Not only is cork 100% recyclable and biodegradable in its flooring form, environmentally cork oak forests provide a balanced bio-system. This landscape supports a rich diversity of wildlife, including the Iberian lynx, imperial eagle and Barbary deer, alongside farmlands, to create a unique balance. The cork forest serves a valuable ecological function by providing soil conservation, water table recharge, and run-off control, while also buffering against climate change and desertification.
But that is not where cork ends. Nature made it a top notch material as well, endowing cork with some pretty spectacular benefits that pulls multiple jobs. Cork is natural thermal insulator. The upon millions of tightly-packed air cells found within every cubic centimeter of cork’s cellular structure works like a wall of memory foam to keep unwanted temperatures out and ambient ones in. Cork is a effective sound inhibitor. The same air cells also work as a barrier to reduce the amount of noise that travels through walls and floors, cutting up to 10 decibels in a 3mm thick application. You’ll get a warm home that exemplifies peace and quiet.
With global warming showing some definitely alternating weather patterns that may soon present a dangerous downswing in the balance of our known world, investing in cork flooring or walling is a smart decision. You give a little back to the earth in a product that is one of the best ‘green’ materials to date. Cork won’t shirk on doing what you need it to. Visit us at www.icorkfloor.com to learn more about cork flooring and browse our cork flooring lines.