How to Buy Eco-Friendly Countertops

An eco-friendly countertop is one made from recycled material or from a source not depleted easily. These countertops vary and each one has good and bad qualities. When you buy eco-friendly countertops you need to investigate all the possibilities and choose one that has a look you love and fits with your style and budget.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Buy an eco-friendly countertop that fits your belief system. Some countertops use pre and post-consumer waste products, like shetkaSTONE. Others, like Eco-Terr, mix 75 to 80 percent of pre-consumer stone, glass, marble or granite chips with a binder of cement. Richlite uses a petroleum based resin with cellulose and ShetkaSTONE uses a water based resin.
2. Check for installation problems. IceStone, made from recycled glass and cement comes in slabs 96 inches long by 52 1/2 inches wide and 1 1/4 inches thick. The size means that no seams are usually necessary. Other companies that use glass only come in 84-inch lengths and are half as wide, making it difficult to do some jobs without a seam.
3. See if there is necessary upkeep. VitraStone, made with 75 to 80 percent recycled product like fly-ash and glass and a special environmentally friendly cement, needs treatment periodically with a sealer to prevent damage from acidic substances or stains. LithiStone, a similar product, needs waxing every few months.
4. Find out the colors offered, which may be more limited than other countertops. The type of material an eco-friendly countertop is made from often dictates the counter color. EnviroGLAS offers EnviroSLAB in a multitude of colors from a variety of glass waste products. Paper-based countertops often come in colors drawn naturally from the materials used, while others create different colors and offer wider selections.
5. Look for a dealer in your area so you can see the product in person and have a local resource to turn to if you have questions. Some companies are so new that they still have limited numbers of dealers nationwide. For example, Alkemi, made from scrap aluminum chips, has few national dealers.

Tips & Warnings

• Beware of fading. Some of the paper-based products fade over time. The occurrence is similar to wood, but if you love the color you ordered, it may change.

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