Did you know that your home is one of the biggest contributors to your carbon footprint? From your water usage to the household appliances and material choices in your space, different aspects of home design have a huge impact on your overall sustainable - or not-so-sustainable - lifestyle. The heightened concern about environmental awareness has led homeowners to design and construct eco-friendly spaces with careful thought and planning. These practices introduced us to the term: sustainable homes!
92% of homeowners are now adamant about finding ‘greener’ ways to elevate their living spaces, a recent study reveals. The reasons for a sustainable home are clear: contributing to a cleaner earth, improving the energy performance of a home, and increasing the home’s resale value. In other words, remodeling your home eco-consciously lets both your home and the environment win. Check out Tile Club’s sustainability policy for more ways we work towards a brighter future.
Our White and Beige Recycled Glass Mosaic Tile is the answer to your environmentally conscious home projects! It can transform your walls with sustainable style!
This shift toward creating a green home design has opened up the door to a broad range of environmentally friendly materials. Unlike forested wood or high-emission vinyl, tiles step into the spotlight for a more earth-conscious lifestyle. Natural and eco-friendly tiles demonstrate how to live green without compromising style. The benefits go beyond recycled material - these tiles contain no harmful chemicals or toxins, support a healthier interior, and allow for easier care, all at once!
So, whether you’ve already jumped on the sustainability train, or just started considering living a little greener, we are here to help you do your part for the environment while beautifying your home! Read on to discover stunning tile ideas for your next renovation project that will help you create a stylish and more eco-friendly nest.
Sustainable Home Building Materials
Recycled Glass Tiles for an Eco-Friendly Home
For a homeowner hoping to create a unique kitchen design while being environmentally responsible, this Recycled Glass Hexagon Mosaic backsplash can provide the best of both worlds. It adds a colorful touch to an otherwise neutral kitchen design while helping you do your part for conserving the planet!
We all know that recycling is a huge aspect of living a green lifestyle. Repurposing items and materials prevents products from building up in landfills, while reducing emissions from the manufacturing of new materials. Glass is one of our most fascinating and important materials for recycling- remember that it takes around 1 million years for one glass bottle to decompose in nature! Recycled glass has found its way into remodeling and home decor, satisfying consumers seeking more environmentally friendly and ecologically responsible solutions for their homes.
What was once considered trash can turn into a beautiful statement wall in your home, such as in this living room design with our Herringbone Recycled Glass Mosaic Tile! It is amazing to see a potential waste turn into an artistic glass tile that can significantly contribute to the world's energy consumption.
Basically, recycled glass tiles can be used anywhere you'd install normal glass. They are resistant to stains, making them perfect for areas that are prone to getting wet including shower walls and bathroom floors as well as kitchen backsplashes, living rooms, entryways, and more. They can create surfaces with amazing detail and unique visual appeal.
Our Cream Penny Round Glass Mosaic Tile is made of 100% recycled glass. It’s perfect for use as a patterned mosaic backsplash in your home. The raised penny round shapes create a 3D effect that adds depth and dimension to any space.
The process of making recycled glass tile not only reduces emissions, but also helps tile manufacturers skip the first few steps of tile making which reduces the use of energy. What’s more, glass is infinitely recyclable, meaning it can go through continuous reincarnation without any loss of quality! Eco-Friendly Design with Recycled Glass Tiles not only does the environment a huge favor but also creates surfaces with added strength and absorption rates (per ASTM requirements) compared to other similar types of materials.
There really is no downside to recycled glass tiles! They’re easy to clean with soap and water, reducing the need for chemical cleaners to keep them clean after even heavy use. The material can go on to live life as a bottle or another tile long after they’re done gracing your walls or floors. You don’t have to sacrifice style thanks to the range of chic designs.
Porcelain Tiles Can Save Trees
Whether it's the benefit of an allergy-free surface, ease of cleaning, or water resistance, our Kasai Fumo wood look tile is a great way to make both your home and planet win.
Using porcelain tiles in your home is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint too. With a low environmental impact at all stages of their life cycle, porcelain tiles make great eco-friendly flooring material for living rooms, bathrooms, kitchens, entryways and more.
Spiga Olson Blanco Wood Look Chevron Porcelain Tile has almost unlimited durability and aesthetic performance that replicates the authentic look of hardwood without the need to cut down trees.
Porcelain tiles that display the stunning natural character of natural stones and hardwood provide an opportunity to combine eco-friendly solutions with natural beauty. Just imagine how many trees you save by opting for hardwood-look porcelain tiles instead of real wood. Not only are they more sustainable than natural wood, but they’re long-wearing, too. Since porcelain is a non-porous material, it won’t swell or warp from contact with water. Eco-friendly, welcoming, and long-lasting - so why install real wood floors when you have porcelain tile that gives the same aesthetic with the added benefit of going ‘green’?
Varana Blanco Stone Look White Porcelain Tile does not require sealing to protect it from wear and tear as well as water, moisture, mildew, and stains. If everyday maintenance is important in terms of environmental concerns, stone-look porcelain can help reduce cleaning efforts while looking stunningly beautiful.
Additionally, porcelain tile is ideal for those with allergies as it is inhospitable to bacteria, mold, and other irritants. Due to its lack of porosity and hard, solid surface, your porcelain surfaces cannot be penetrated by dust or dirt. These benefits also allow porcelain tile to improve your indoor air quality. Additionally, these tiles require little to no maintenance in contrast to natural hardwood flooring, allowing you to use wood-look tiles in kitchens and wet areas where real hardwood flooring could easily be damaged.
Natural Stone Tiles for Sustainable Building
If you’re chasing a natural material that will change the look of your space, our Carrara Chic with Thassos Dots Marble Mosaic Tile is an option that demonstrates aesthetic depth, natural beauty and sustainability, in one material!
Designing sustainably means choosing products that aim to reduce their impact on the environment. This includes choosing natural products of the Earth as well as long-wearing materials that reduce waste. Natural stone tile is a non-manufactured material straight from Mother Nature that does not require any chemicals or toxins to produce it, making it a perfect candidate for sustainable materials in your home design. Selecting marble bathroom floors or kitchen backsplash tiles can help you reduce maintenance costs, increase the resale value of your home, and of course, encourage a greener living over the long term.
Like any building material, we have to weigh the impact of quarrying, cutting, and shipping marble against the sustainability of the material itself. While it does take energy to mine and shape raw material into slabs or mosaic pieces, the long-term benefits of this hardwearing material. Think of the Parthenon in Greece or the villas of ancient Rome - they’re still standing and as beautiful as ever thanks to the longevity of the marble stones.
Marble can be repurposed, with larger slabs cut into smaller designs that are easily assembled into chips for mosaics. Delicate designs like marble hexagons or penny rounds are traditionally made from edges and corners, reducing waste and repurposing materials.
Imagine walking across Bardiglio Hexagon Marble Mosaic floors in bare feet on a summer’s day! Plus, marble tile floors help create a cleaner and allergy-free indoor environment for a sustainable design.
The key to lowering your energy bills in summer months and enjoying a cool, sustainable floor right under your feet might be natural stone tile flooring. Choosing marble floor tiles lets you show that you take responsibility for the environment, while at the same time keeping your home cooler to beat the heat. Additionally, stone tiles come with no harmful chemicals so you can rest assured that your interiors are healthy, which is another important aspect of sustainable home design.
Create an old-world feel in your living room with our Moroccan Star & Cross Blue Etched Marble Mosaic Tile on your floors. What’s more, the heat conductivity of stone delivers significant energy efficiency that supports sustainable design requirements.
On the flip side of the coin, heated stone tile floors are an excellent way to add comfort and efficiency when creating a green home. As one of the most popular choices for underfloor heating, stone tile floors help retain a significant amount of heat, resulting in not only great aesthetic impact but also increased sustainability in home design.
We’re in love with both the aesthetic and eco-appeal of our Gold Bouquet Marble Tile in this kitchen backsplash design! A great option for any sustainable interior design that craves for a touch of romantic feel, this marble mosaic tile is undeniably a stunning choice.
Other Materials for an Eco-Friendly Home
Creating a sustainable home fixture goes beyond just the tile. Tile Club recommends Laticreate for both adhesive and grout products. Their LEED/ Greenguard certified products are the perfect finish to any tile project for a greener, more sustainable home.
Are you ready to take the first step toward a more sustainable home? We hope you were inspired by our tile designs for creating your own beautiful, healthy and eco-friendly interior.
If you have any questions, we are here to help you create a more environmentally friendly home, one tile at a time!
