More and more homeowners are looking for decor and building products that marry style and sustainability. An emerging strong contender seems to be cork, which is an extremely eco-friendly material, as I recently learned on a tour of Portugal, courtesy of the Portuguese Cork Association. While there, I spent time in an ancient cork oak forest, where farm workers (“debarkers”) skillfully stripped the bark of cork trees with an axe, much in the same way their forefathers starting doing so around 2,000 years ago.

Cork is sustainable partly because only the bark of the trees, which will regenerate in about nine years, is harvested. Equally important is the fact that these forests are home to about 100 species per hectare, some of which are endangered. And the manufacturing process itself is extremely efficient; even cork dust is used to power equipment.

Cork is now being made into a variety of products for the home, including conventional cork flooring, or underlay for other materials -- such as vinyl, wood veneer and recycled leather – as seen in the pic above (courtesy of Torlys). But it’s also being given very stylish treatments in items like chairs and tabletop decor, also shown in the pics above.

Much of today’s cork flooring is a relatively DIY install, which adds to its affordability. Of course, if you need some guidance in floor installation, there’s sure to be a course at BiY that will meet your needs.