Creating an Eco-Friendly Oasis in Your Home

DALTON, Ga., April 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Mohawk Industries, the leader in recycled and renewable flooring, has teamed up with DIY enthusiast Chip Wade to help consumers transform their home into a green sanctuary this Earth Day with five simple steps.

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1. Conduct an energy assessment. Whether you are living in an older house or a more modern space, an energy audit can determine the efficiency of a home's heating and cooling systems. Learn where your house is leaking energy, and then fix the problem. Your pocketbook will thank you!
2. Be green from the ground up! Every great green space begins with eco-friendly flooring. Chip's favorites? Rapidly renewable bamboo floors and revolutionary SmartStrand carpet. Mohawk's strand-woven bamboo is the perfect blend of exotic beauty and supreme durability. In fact, it's twice as hard as domestic oak. And SmartStrand, made from renewable resources (corn sugar!), also has unmatched stain protection engineered right into the fibers.
3. Pick a soothing color palette. The trend of sharply contrasting accent walls is slowly fading away. Instead, select a calming dark beige, grey or blue paint that is nontoxic and contains no, or low volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
4. Say yes to vintage furniture. Flea markets and rummage sales are the perfect places to snag antique chairs, tables and couches. Give pieces a fresh, new look by reupholstering with organic linen or fabric made from recycled yarn.
5. Spend time enjoying your serene space – not cleaning it. Skip upholstery and throws made of fussy silks and velvets in favor of comfortable, organic cotton. And keep floors clean with a nontoxic cleaner like Mohawk's FloorCare Essentials®. Now muddy paw prints or spilled grape juice are no cause for concern.

Mohawk is the largest recycler in the flooring industry, diverting more than 3 billion pounds of pre- and post-consumer waste from landfills each year. More than 500 Mohawk products currently contain recycled material. From recycling polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles into EverStrand carpeting to transforming corn sugar into SmartStrand® with DuPont™ Sorona® carpeting and dismantled buildings into hardwood flooring and more, Mohawk is committed to offering environmentally responsible, stylish products. To learn more, visit www.MohawkFlooring.com.

About Mohawk Industries

Mohawk is a leading supplier of flooring for both residential and commercial applications. Mohawk offers a complete selection of broadloom carpet, ceramic tile, laminate, wood, stone, vinyl, rugs and other home products. These products are marketed under the premier brands in the industry, which include Mohawk, Karastan, Ralph Lauren, Lees, Bigelow, Dal-Tile, American Olean, Quick-Step, Columbia and Century. Mohawk's unique merchandising and marketing assist our customers in creating the consumers' dream. Mohawk provides a premium level of service with its own trucking fleet and over 250 local distribution locations.

SOURCE Mohawk Flooring