How to Choose Environmentally Friendly Materials During Decoration?

Decoration is a major event. In addition to being beautiful and practical, the biggest concern for people is “environmental protection”. Especially now that people’s health awareness is getting stronger and stronger, choosing the right environmentally friendly materials is the key for many homeowners to avoid pollution from the source. Many people feel a headache when they hear the term “environmentally friendly materials” during decoration, not knowing what it specifically refers to or how to choose them. Today, this article will explain environmentally friendly materials clearly, covering their categories, importance and selection skills, so that even beginners can easily understand.

First of all, we need to make it clear: environmentally friendly materials do not mean “zero pollution”, but refer to decoration materials that meet national environmental protection standards, with the emission of harmful substances (such as formaldehyde, benzene, TVOC, etc.) controlled within a safe range and will not cause harm to human health. Its core is “low emission and low harm”, rather than completely free of harmful substances – after all, in the production and processing of decoration materials, it is inevitable to use some auxiliary reagents. As long as the emission meets the standards, it is a qualified environmentally friendly materials.

Next, let’s take a look at the main types of commonly used environmentally friendly materials in decoration. It is enough for everyone to focus on these types during decoration.

The choice of environmental protection wall materials is very crucial. The commonly used environmental protection wall materials mainly include the following categories:

Environmental protection latex paint is the most common choice. High-quality environmental protection latex paint does not contain harmful substances such as formaldehyde and benzene, has a relatively low VOC content, and is scrub-resistant and easy to construct, making it suitable for most families; diatom mud is a natural environmental protection material made of diatomite. It not only has no pollution itself, but also can absorb harmful gases in the air, making it suitable for families with the elderly and children, but its price is slightly higher; there are also environmental protection wallpaper or wall cloth. When choosing, everyone should focus on the base material and adhesive, and prioritize wallpaper with non-woven fabric or pure paper base material, paired with environmental protection glutinous rice glue, it is easy to produce pollution.

There is also a lot of attention to be paid to floor materials. There are many choices, and everyone should also pay attention to environmental protection. Solid wood flooring is made of natural wood without chemical additives, so it has the best environmental protection, but it is expensive and requires regular maintenance; engineered wood flooring combines the advantages of solid wood and composite flooring, with good environmental protection and higher cost performance; some people also choose laminate flooring because they think it is affordable and wear-resistant, but in fact, its base material is density board, so it is necessary to focus on the environmental protection level to prevent formaldehyde exceeding the standard. In addition, ceramic tiles are also widely used. Ceramic tiles themselves have almost no pollution, but attention should be paid to the environmental protection of tile adhesive – inferior tile adhesive will also release harmful substances.

Here are four practical tips to help you choose the right environmentally friendly materials during decoration, so that even beginners can avoid 90% of the pitfalls.

First, check the environmental certification. Regular environmentally friendly materials will have environmental certification from national authoritative departments, such as China Environmental Label Product Certification (Ten-Ring Certification), which is the most authoritative environmental certification in China and provides more guarantee for environmental protection; in addition, you should check the environmental protection level of the board (ENF level > E0 level > E1 level), and for latex paint, you should check the test report of VOC and formaldehyde content. Never only listen to the verbal promotion of merchants.

Second, expensive ones are not necessarily environmentally friendly. Some affordable materials, as long as they meet national environmental protection standards, are not worse in environmental protection than high-priced materials. For example, many domestic brand environmental protection latex paints are affordable, meet the environmental protection level standards, and are also suitable choices.

Third, prioritize simple materials to reduce cumulative pollution. During decoration, even if a single material meets the standard, if it is used in large quantities, it may lead to excessive total harmful substances in the room. Therefore, try to keep the decoration simple to reduce the risk of cumulative pollution from the source.

Fourth, compare more and test more. When buying materials for decoration, you must look more and compare more, compare the products, prices and test reports of several merchants, and choose merchants with good reputation and high credibility; after the materials arrive at the site, you can also invite a professional environmental testing agency to conduct sampling tests.When choosing environmentally friendly materials for decoration, there is no need to pursue “zero pollution”, but they must meet national environmental protection standards; there is no need to blindly follow the trend to buy high-priced products, and the focus should be on certifications and test reports; at the same time, we must take into account practicality and cost performance, covering all links such as wall materials, floor materials and auxiliary materials, to create a comfortable and reassuring space.