Eco-Friendly Kitchen Countertops Guide
When we embarked on our first kitchen renovation, we wanted to invest in our health and the planet by creating a green kitchen. This was a few years back, when a lot of the eco-friendly countertops options were not that easy to come by in the Northeast. We found several eco-friendly countertops that we wanted to use for our project, but couldn’t find it locally and if we could find it locally, as in the case of PaperStone, we had a difficult time finding a qualified installer. Finally, we tracked down an installer that had experience with Richlite countertops, so, we went for it.
Since our green kitchen remodel, more and more eco-friendly countertops have arrived on the market and more installers are happy to work with alternative materials from recycled paper countertops to recycled glass countertops to concrete countertops. Now the question is, with so many eco-friendly options out there, which one is right for you?
There is no limit to the colors, styles, textures and designs you can incorporate into your kitchen and bath without compromising your environmental sensibilities. Companies across the country are creating gorgeous, creative countertop designs utilizing recycled materials, eco-friendly dyes, and sourcing materials locally to create a product that is more environmentally friendly than some of the standard products available on the market. We definitely feel good about knowing that our countertop contains 50% recycled materials, and knowing that we have a unique, timeless and long lasting look for our kitchen – the key to sustainability.
This guide is to serve as a reference for the types of countertops available to you for you green renovation. Several of the countertops on this list even qualify for LEED certified points for your Green Building Project and many can be used for flooring, wall panels, tables, bars in both commercial and residential projects.
We’d love to hear feedback from you with comments about your own personal experience with eco-friendly countertops, with recommendations of brands and/or types of countertops we should include on this list or with any questions that you might have.