Taking the old and making it new is a great way to incorporate green building into your home.

According to PATH, specialty recyclers harvest reusable hardwoods such as chestnut, hickory, cherry, and oak from old houses, buildings, and barns before demolition and then send the wood to a lumber mill where it is remilled into individual flooring pieces.

The surface can be selectively finished to have a final appearance anywhere between rough hewn to finely sanded and varnished. The material can be installed as thick planks or standard tongue-and-groove boards.

Renewable flooring like cork, bamboo, and eucalyptus is becoming a more popular alternative to slow-growing hardwoods due to their beauty and sustainability.

Eucalyptus is now commercially grown in South America as well as California and can be harvested within 14 to 16 years as opposed to hardwoods like oak, which can take up to 60 years to mature.