Best For Remodeling

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Not only green, EcoDomo tiles are tough as—you guessed it—leather. Installed in a 2007 Solar Decathlon show home, they survived the trampling of 80,000 visitors, just a few more than the average dinner party.

Hides to Seek

Every year, EcoDomo recycles 5,000 tons of automobile upholstery leather scraps into luxurious floors and wall coverings. The butter-soft tiles have water-based finishes and can be installed with low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) adhesives, then maintained with regular buffing using natural carnauba wax.

Spokesperson Christian Nadeau says the company is concerned with protecting the environment: "We use recycled packaging, carbon credits to offset our travels, wood-chip scrap palettes for shipping, and wind-generated energy for our offices. And our water system is closed-loop."

Not only green, EcoDomo tiles are tough as—you guessed it—leather. Installed in a 2007 Solar Decathlon show home, they survived the trampling of 80,000 visitors, just a few more than the average dinner party.

EcoDomo: $24 to $40 per square foot, plus installation, (301) 424-7717, www.EcoDomo.com.

Waste Not…

Ever wonder where old toilets go to die? Tim Whaley knows. His company makes terrazzo for flooring and countertops from recycled glass—and now, from recycled porcelain potties. The new product is fittingly called EnviroMODE.

Customers can design their own EnviroMODE mix from a kaleidoscope of custom colors. The product has a coconut-extract base, and once dry, emits no VOCs.

"If you were to visit the facility you would see there’s no offgassing—you don’t need a respirator or mask to work with the resins," Whaley says. "Eighty percent of our product is made from recycled materials. Zero waste is what we aim for."

EnviroMODE: $20 per square foot, (972) 473-3725, www.EnviroGLASProducts.com.

A Match Made in Hardware Heaven

If Liz’s Antique Hardware in Los Angeles doesn’t have the funky salvaged piece you’re looking for, it probably doesn’t exist. The company’s website says it stocks 1 million items; manager Terri Hartman says she hasn’t counted them all, but she laughs, "There’s a lot."