Wooden flooring is a good environmental choice (provided it is recycled, or comes from a sustainable source). Real linoleum (lino) is also good. Its main ingredient is linseed oil, and it can be shredded and composted at the end of its useful life. However watch out for false lino, made from oil derivatives, including PVC.

Ceramic tiles and quarry tiles will last for ever, but watch out for where they are sourced – many travel half way across the world before landing in your bathroom.

Cork and (sustainable) hardwood strips are also good choices, and should last 10-20 years. Alternatively, parquet is less hard-wearing, but more decorative. Laminated wood flooring is cheaper, and generally more flexible in its use, as well as being less susceptible to swelling and shrinking – but watch out for the chemicals! All are much better environmental choices than plastic flooring, although generally more expensive, but it is easier and cheaper to replace a single strip, block, or parquet tile than a whole plastic floor! See also the section on wood.

Perhaps you don’t need to replace your mucky looking floorboards – try sanding off the top layer then sealing with a water-based sealant. You can hire a sander to make the job easier.

Many carpets and soft floors are made from synthetic materials requiring a huge energy input (can be a third of your home’s total environmental impact, if you replace your synthetic carpets often), and which can take 20,000 years to decompose. Hard wearing (but not as hard-wearing as nylon!) alternatives are made from natural materials such as wool or plant fibres (coir, jute, sisal, sea-grass) which biodegrade much more quickly. Avoid foam backings, which require a large energy input to manufacture, and choose a natural fibre backing or recycled rubber-crumb underlay. Woolmark labelled carpets may have been treated with nerve agents called pyrethroids. Check that wool carpets use natural latex adhesive (containing no styrene), and that nobody in the household is allergic to natural latex.