Every day I feed, clothe, change, teach and expose Sophie to new things in the world. I am constantly thinking about the best and most natural options for her health and well-being.
The decisions involved in buying and decorating our new home in Kentucky has been no exception to my daily plight for natural living. My biggest hangup so far has been the carpet situation.
I'm not a fan of carpet to begin with - much less carpet that someone else has lived in/on for an unknown number of years (did you know that when removed from a home carpet is said to weigh twice as much as it did when installed due to the sheer volume of dead skin cells deposited into it? Sick). Carpet also contains some of the worst and most toxic chemicals found within the four walls of your home. And friends, those toxins aren't gone when the new smell disappears - the offgas is constant. According to the NYT, even the recycled padding still contains very harmful ingredients. Carpeting (and it's toxic adhesives, VOC's, benzene, formaldehyde, etc.) is also one of the thousand things that is being linked to the rise in autism. What's a girl to do?
Sophie plays on the floor with her toys and we have another baby on the way. So, naturally, the old carpet in all four bedrooms will be the first thing to go after we close this week. I have spent countless hours researching, visiting stores, ordering flooring and subsequently canceling it... and wound up with... more carpet.
I finally gave in - partly due to time constraints and partly due to financial reasoning. There is a great store in town that sells environmentally sustainable 100% wool carpet, jute backing, natural padding... all for the low low price that is equivalent to putting hardwoods throughout the entire second floor of our home. There is also a long lead time once the order is placed. Whereas another local store that sells all of the big name brand carpets just had an enormous sale, found my carpet in stock and got a crew to do a tear-out and install on a Saturday. It's more convenient and helluva lot less expensive. And that, my readers, is where I drew the line on natural living last Friday.
Feel free to leave a comment and make me feel better about our choice since I'm clearly still struggling with this decision! Hope y'all had a great weekend.
