A Frustrating Attempt at an Ecofriendly Countertop

Wandering through a green living expo years ago, I saw a display for ecofriendly concrete & recycled glass countertops.  We were looking to replace our horrible old bathroom countertop and I was very intrigued by the beautiful bits of colored glass mixed into the base material.

Eventually, we hired a local guy to create a concrete countertop mixed with blue recycled glass for our bathroom.  At first we thought it was great but our love affair did not last long.  To begin with, the sealant on the countertop did not hold up to everyday use and it started to look dull and stained in places.  Then, about 6 months after the countertop was installed, I noticed it had cracked!!  Not just one crack but two - one on either side of the sink.  Man was I pissed!! 

The installer informed us that this happens on rare occasions because concrete shrinks as it cures.  He attempted to patch it to no avail and then offered to replace it with a resin-based product instead.  I was not big on having a plastic-based countertop but at that point the blue recycled glass was a cornerstone of our bathroom design and I was not willing to give it up.  The resin used for the new countertop is zero-VOC epoxy and it is extremely durable.  Unlike the concrete, it requires no sealant so the countertop looks just the same now as when it was first installed.  Basically, it looks like the concrete one, only better.  But I'm still upset at the waste of resources that went into our project.

Meanwhile, I had heard rumors that concrete wasn't so ecofriendly after all. Cement, the base material for concrete is extremely energy intensive to produce and uses some questionable manufacturing processes.  In fact, cement manufacturing is the #2 source of CO2 emissions, second only to automobiles.  So why are people touting it as an ecofriendly building material????  If I had to do it again, I would have skipped the cement and gone with either the resin-based/recycled glass one that I have or Paperstone, which is resin mixed with recycled paper.  Or marble.  We almost bought a marble remnant but it wasn't quite right and I was afraid it would stain.

Lisa Sharp, one of my buddies from the Green Moms Carnival lives near a cement plant and she is a big advocate for getting these factories to clean up their acts.  She is hosting a carnival about the environmental and health risks of cement production on her blog, Retro Housewife Goes Green on Monday, November 11th.  Stop by to learn more about the issues with cement, what's being done about it and how to find safer, alternative building materials.

Comments

[shannon]

wow! very good info! thanks so much! :)

[Kristie]

It is a frustrating process, isn't it? It's funny you would mention marble. I just caught about 1 minute of an eco-redesign show on HGTV the other day, and all I remember them saying is "we don't want to use marble because of it's carbon footprint." I don't know how to go about finding this information, so I don't really know if it's true or not. I've always liked the look of paperstone, but I don't know if it's any better than other product. Thanks for your info!

[Adam]

Be careful with marble as it's a very soft stone. If you had trouble with the sealant looking dull after a couple of months you would have the same problem with the marble, which would scratch from daily use

[Lisa @Retro Housewife Goes Green]

Thanks so much for posting about this! Living 2.5 miles from a cement plant brings this issue literally in to my home (and my lungs!).

[Anna@Green Talk]

I would not use marble as a countertop unless you found an old one and it was in an area where there is no traffic. It stains like crazy! Marble is not very eco-friendly.

I like paperstone but fear putting something like this in a bathroom or kitchen. Although they tell me water won't bother it, I am not convinced. A desk surface. Absolutely. I have a similar product on my desk. Love it.

I always feared an cement glass countertop because of maintenance and cracking. My basement floor has cracks. Why wouldn't my cement countertop crack? Check out ECO™ BY COSENTINO. It is 75% recycled content. It is made by Silestone.

Honestly, what is green to me is something that is going to last and less maintenance. Spoken like a true mom!