There’s nothing like the feel of a wooden floor under your bare feet – the slight springiness, the faint warmth, the occasional creak that’s like an old voice full of character. The only ugly knot in this plank of delights is the knowledge that to floor your home, a number of trees were in for the chop.

So why not cover your floor in bark instead?

One day in 1680, in the Champagne region of France, Dom Pierre Perignon whittled a plug out of the outer coating of the Quercus suber tree and pushed it into one of his bottles of sparkling wine. This was regarded as such a good move that today around 38 million corks will be shoved into bottles around this planet – 14 billion a year.

Cork's not just used for corking wine. Coasters, dartboards, Space Shuttle nose cones, shuttlecocks, shoe soles, Cricket balls…and even,
would you believe, postage stamps.

Cork is light, durable, insulates like a dream and simply devours noise. It’s harvested in Portugal from cork trees every 9 years – and each tree can be de-barked around 15 times during its lifetime, each time living to bark another day. For this reason, cork manufacturers are rightly proud of their Green credentials.

Cork also makes delicious-feeling, safe, easily-maintained flooring under your feet in the morning. Have a look at Eco Friendly Flooring’s range, or what Globus Cork has to offer.

And somewhere (probably Portugal)....the trees are standing, just like you.

Image: Globus Cork