This is something you might be tempted to sweep under the rug. Carpet backing, which holds carpet tufts together, giving them support and structure, is commonly made of polypropylene or another synthetic, petroleum-based plastic (an environmental burden from production to disposal), and bonded with styrene butadiene (SB) latex adhesive, which is bad news for indoor air quality. These components of carpet backing can offgas volatile organic compounds (VOCs)-that's what's commonly referred to as "new carpet smell." Alternatives to these conventional products include carpet backing made with recycled materials, or jute, which is natural and renewable, although less durable and harder to find.

Newer carpets, as a rule, emit far lower levels of VOCs than older ones, but some are better than others; when shopping, check to see if the product you're considering meets the requirements of the Carpet and Rug Institute's Green Label-which indicates that it has been tested and identified as low-VOC. Carpet backing (and often the carpet material itself) also typically takes up great amounts of landfill space at the end of its useful life. Fortunately, more and more options for its recycling and reuse are becoming available. If you've got carpet that has to go, check out www.carpetrecovery.org for details about responsible disposal in your area.

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