Kitchen Cabinets

Kitchen cabinets often take up the most space in your kitchen, responsible for storing everything from your pots and pans to dinnerware and more. Since they take up so much of your space, it's really important that you choose green materials, not just for the planet, but for your personal health; with all the wood and wood derivatives, and their finishes and adhesives, there's lots of potential to make your home (and you) sick. Here's the scoop on choosing green kitchen cabinet materials.

Solid Wood Cabinets

Like other green building material uses, it doesn't get much better than solid wood. Choosing solid wood will give you a beautiful, durable product that will stand up to heavy use over a long period.

Pros of Solid Wood Cabinets

Depending on the type of wood you select, it can resist moisture better than some of the other choices, like some of the engineered boards, which is important in the kitchen around the sink, dishwasher, and other damp spots. It's also very durable, and can withstand constant use for many years.

Cons of Solid Wood Cabinets

Solid wood is the most expensive choice when it comes to kitchen cabinets, which can be multiplied if your kitchen requires custom designs.

How Green are Solid Wood Cabinets?
The green quotient here is all about two things: Where the wood comes from, and how it's finished.

If you source wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, you know that it was harvested sustainably and has had proper third-party oversight throughout the supply chain. No rainforest will be needlessly chopped, no stand of trees clear cut; essentially, you'll know that the wood is being used as a truly renewable resource should. Anything else, and you can't be sure that your cabinets aren't the result of unscrupulous wood-cutting practices.

The second part has to do with the adhesives and finishes. Be sure to ask your contractor or supplier to use formaldehyde-free adhesive, and low- or no-VOC finishes, so that your cabinets won't off-gas and contribute to poor indoor air quality. It's likely that you'll have a bunch of new cabinets, so a little bad stuff will go a long way.

Cost of Solid Wood Cabinets: Very high (but probably worth it, if you can swing it) Where to find it Look for the FSC certified seal at places like Berkeley Mills and Neil Kelly Cabinetry. The GreenHome Guide has a solid list to get you started.

Bamboo Cabinets

Bamboo has become one of the darlings of the green material world, and for good reason: It looks great, wears well, and is super-renewable. That doesn't mean it's the perfect material, but it can be a good choice for a kitchen cabinet material if you look for a few key things.

Pros of Bamboo Cabinets

It has a very unique style and can offer some different looks than any other cabinet material. It's density and strength can rival hardwood, helping make bamboo cabinets as durable as most any on the market.

Cons of Bamboo Cabinets

Like any wood (though bamboo is technically a grass), bamboo can warp with time and exposure to moisture, so be wary, and careful about other water-related design elements in your kitchen.

How Green are Bamboo Cabinets?

As bamboo has earned more mindshare in the green world, it's gone from world-saving wonder-material to something that requires a good deal of care when sourcing it. Because so much of the world's bamboo comes from China, it can be difficult to verify the quality of the material, and the supply chain it follows from field to factory to showroom to you.

To keep it green, you can now get FSC-certified bamboo from Smith & Fong so you know that it's been harvested in a sustainable manner. Keep the green quotient high by following up with formaldehyde-free adhesives and no-VOC finishes, and you'll be in good shape.

Cost of Bamboo Cabinets

You can find bamboo cabinetry for medium-high to high price points, depending on your exact specifications and design needs.

Where to find Bamboo Cabinets
Smith & Fong is a great place to start, and AlterECO can help get you going, too.

Engineered & Particle Board Cabinets

If solid slabs of wood aren't your preference, there's a variety of engineered and particle board cabinets available. Wheatboard, oriented strand board (OSB), and plywood are all used to create the bulk of the material, and they're usually finished with a veneer to make them look like solid wood.

They take various forms of recycled material -- sawdust, wood chips, and the like -- and use glue, heat, and pressure to squish it all together to form a mostly homogeneous material that pretty closely resembles solid wood in the end.

Pros of Engineered & Particle Board Cabinets

They're usually the least expensive option to you, and, especially in drier climates and kitchens with good ventilation, they can last just about as long as solid wood and bamboo.

Cons of Engineered & Particle Board Cabinets

They aren't quite as durable as the solid options, and are more susceptible to the negative effects of moisture exposure.

How Green are Engineered & Particle Board Cabinets?

The real green question, then, falls to what sorts of adhesives are used. If formaldehyde-free glues and no-VOC finishes on the veneer are in there, then it's going to be a pretty green product. If not, you're looking at a pretty serious contributor to indoor air pollution.

Cost of Engineered & Particle Board Cabinets

These materials are often the most affordable option out there.

Where to Engineered & Particle Board Cabinets

Humabuilt is an excellent place to start.

Installing Kitchen Cabinets

Anybody who has done this before will tell you that it's no walk in the park, but it can be done. At least four hands (and more, if you can round 'em up) are required, and a laser level will make your life easier, too. It's pretty tricky to get everything square, level, and even, so if you don't know what you're doing, or don't know anybody who does, it's probably best to leave this to the pros.

More about kitchen cabinets
Real-Life Green Kitchen Renovation
Umbrella Cabinetry Builds a Greener Kitchen
Henrybuilt Kitchens