How about a little luxury tile with a green thumb to kick off the New Year? This year I want to pay special attention to eco-friendly companies that create beautiful green products that are more than just sustainable at face value. Recycled content and low VOC’s are shallow stabs at creating sustainable products, so in 2011 I’m going to search deeper for products that have many green facets. Artistic Tile, the large luxury tile store, has implemented several new green initiatives to lower their carbon footprint and set a new example for the tile industry.

Elevations. Designed by Artistic Tile.

Many luxury brands are exempting themselves from the wave of sustainability by claiming quality will be lost. Artistic Tile is greening their manufacturing and waste processes to be more environmentally friendly while maintaining a high level of quality. Some of the initiatives include using 100% filtered rain water, recycling post-production scrap material, and shipping products in recycled boxes with biodegradable bubble wrap. Their in-house water filtration system filters 200 gallons per minute through the use of special drains and tubes that were installed on the company warehouse roof. These tanks collect as much as 1,000 gallons from one rain storm. The collected rain water is then introduced into a series of tanks and pressurized pumps that clean the water immediately without the need for chemicals, chlorine, or bleaching agents. Thanks to this water system, Artistic Tile has been able to stop purchasing water from the city to run their custom-cutting program. In addition to recycling water, Artistic Tile gathers post-production scrap material to be sent to a plant in South New Jersey where it is ground into aggregate for concrete and used in a wide variety of construction projects, including railway beds.

Most important to their green initiative is the consumer’s desire to purchase the product. Artistic Tile’s Elevations line shows off the beauty of natural stone in a creative and stylish way. The Elevations collection has a geometric pattern that is reminiscent of the way geometry occurs in nature. Each of the three stone varieties offered in the collection highlights a different quality in the stone, whether it be color, texture or purity. The tiles could be a calming element in a bathroom or a feature wall in any space.

via re-nest