Marble flooring and... the Taliban?!

Excellent article. Feel good that you and the NYTimes exposed this shameful sham.

Excuse our observation that a large number of MAJOR negatives, from a user's, as well as the environmental aspect effecting all of us, were not included.

The amount of carbon generated energy used to bring the marble (granite, stone) out of a mine, open pit or not, is huge. The dynamite, the filthy fuel for the trucks, the power needed to cut it, to transport it to the docks and then carried thousands of miles on the ships is quite large.

Since the slabs of stone rarely can fit into a container, because of its odd, large size, we should add that the tramp steamers employed are very old, very inefficient and rarely have any exhaust stack cleaning devices. Just because they are out to sea, does not mean that the terrible smoke is not added to the total of OUR air.The energy used to cut to size and installation near, or on site, are amongst the largest consumers of carbon generated energy.

Marble, granite and stone, as a ecological positive building materials is a dangerous farce.

As to bamboo, from our passion and being in the center of the industry, and truly caring about what we are doing, (Our motto: "There is nothing wrong with doing well as you do good."). we can swear the range of energy savings, the conditions of harvest and conversion to usable product, is far far from ideal too. While not a truism, and many individuals are diligently attempting to improve and change the bad things, America's Big Boxes are VERY tempting targets. Their (Chinese) kids won't be breathing the poisons that exist in the glues and finish. Who cares if the stuff will wear out "overnight" and need replacement? It is fact that much of the dangerous bamboo flooring sold by the Big Boxes is a whole lot worse for the Earth than publishers print. Those manufacturing it and the Americans thinking they are doing the right thing are in a great scam. They are hurting Nature, the atmosphere and human beings including the folk who live or are welcomed into their homes.

Thank you for your efforts. You are on to something important and getting the word out is of paramount importance to us all.

David Kurland, GM
Mill Valley Bamboo

P.S. On the other hand, their white marble is a whole lot "safer" than the other white powder they poison us with. Ya think?

hmmm, well I don't know how the bamboo man from Mill Valley knows all about the carbon load from quarrying but being in the stone business and trying to be green at the same time I can share my research with you. Participating at a Green Building Exhibition once at De Anza College I asked the woman putting it on what was the greenest thing about the natural stone I work with. She said: "that's easy: its not a scarce resource" hmmm I said and thought about it for years to come. I have now come up with a Green section for a new brochure and I list several items that I know for fact that support natural stones 'greenness' if you will. First as previously mentioned, Natural Stone is not a scarce resource. Did anyone else ever hear Mickey Hart say "we live on a blue and green spinning rock"!? Second, it is not a manufactured product, it already exists and yes it does have (minimal) processing so OVERALL it has relatively low carbon footprint when compared to other HARD DECORATIVE PRACTICAL surfaces, natural or god-forbid: unnatural! Industrial diamonds and expansion materials have reduced modern quarrying and processing costs to where granite is no longer the exclusive of the wealthy but now math teachers, nurses and our fire and law enforcement can afford it. I worked in Marin for many years, still do and now have a location in Western Massachusetts which is anything but bourgeoisie.
Sorry David but containerized ocean freight is efficient (why do you think everything in WALMART is so inexpensive overall) and everyone everywhere almost has imported stuff in their lives, we are global and this is an unescapable fact. Tests have compared shipping stone from Northern England to the East Coast of the USA and it is less expensive and much less polluting on a container ship rather than a truck for a comparable distance from CA for example. I know LEEDs likes 500 miles from quarry to job but when balanced against the low cost of imported stone - that saved money could go to more LEEDS things - in a balanced equation. I deliver stone with bio-diesel and run it it my large forklift. Much stone processing involves large amounts of recycled water. And If you look at an abandoned quarry it reclaims itself, in fact look at the rock cycle: from igneous to sedimentary to metamorphic - The rock cycle is essentially recycling in its purest form. Stone is a truly long lasting beautiful practical LIFE CYCLE product - it literally never needs replacement as it will outlast almost any current structure it can be put in - note the carbon load needs to be balanced and when it is, it is not as high as you may think! You may think of it as a piece of the world, a slice of history - and it feels good to get grounded with mother earth! Alex Sajkovic, ASN Stone