Eco-Friendly Options for Your Kitchen and Bathrooms
With all of the focus recently on 'Going Green' and Eco-Friendly products, the construction industry has stepped up and starting looking for
Eco-Friendly products and energy saving techniques to help minimize the impact on the environment. While there are a wide range of products (too
many to talk about in one article), I would like to focus on one specific category- kitchen and bathroom cabinets.
It is hard to imagine that something that is traditionally made completely from wood can be eco-friendly without sacrificing strength or durability, but
there are several products that have become a more viable option in the past couple of years without sacrificing quality or looks. On the high end of
the market, you have Bamboo cabinets. There are only a handful of manufacturers out there that make bamboo cabinets, but they are growing in
popularity. Since bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants in the world and can be easily replenished (much faster than any other tree),
manufacturers are starting to make use of this valuable resource. While the entire cabinet could not be made out of bamboo, they use thin layers of
bamboo as a veneer for the cabinets. With solid plywood construction underneath, these cabinets offer durability, strength, and a unique look for your
kitchen... however, you should expect to pay a higher price for them. Since all of the cabinets are made to order, lead times are going to longer and
the total cost is going to be higher. But the added benefit of knowing you are doing your part to help the environment is well worth it.
While very few people realize it, RTA Cabinets or Ready-To-Assemble cabinets are fast becoming an eco-friendly product. While they are still made
of the traditional hard woods, they have a very different approach to the manufacturing process. Unlike custom made cabinets that will only use select
grades of wood and specific pieces of the tree, RTA Cabinets actually use 100% of the tree in their constructi