There is a wide variety of new countertops on the market today that both perform well under the demands of heavy use and exposure to water and offer environmental advantages. This wasn't always the case, says Joel Klippert, founder of PaperStone, a paper-and-resin composite: "Five years ago, there was not a single option for green counters other than FSC [Forestry Stewardship Council]-certified  butcher blocks and recycled-glass tiles."

The new counters combine natural and man-made materials in composite slabs, and most of them integrate recycled waste into the mix. All are attractive and viable alternatives to conventional surfaces.

"In an informal survey, the materials that come out on top of the green heap are IceStone, the terrazzo from Brooklyn, and PaperStone, made near Seattle."

Most of the new counters break down into two categories. The first includes beautiful terrazzo-like recycled glass–and-concrete composites. Thousands of pieces of polished glass, which began life as beer bottles, windshields, traffic lights, and stemware, are set in a base of concrete to create these solid slabs. IceStone (icestone.biz) is produced in Brooklyn. Made of cement and glass, 75 percent of it recycled, it is suitable for floors and walls as well as counters. Surfaces are available in almost any color, as the pigment can be added to the background mix and customers can select from a variety of sizes and colors of glass.

A similar product, Vetrazzo, by Counter Production in Berkeley, California (www.vetrazzo.com), uses 80 percent postconsumer or postindustrial recycled glass. Made with larger chunks of glass, it is more highly customized. It produces no off-gassing or VOCs.

EnviroSlab (www.enviroglasproducts.com) is a recycled-glass terrazzo built in a color-pigmented epoxy resin.

The second category encompasses paper-and-resin composites, which are warm materials with a matte finish that come in a variety of colors. Newspaper, cardboard, waste paper, and even paper money are used as fibers in these slabs. Most of these counters can be sawn, drilled, screwed, or routed like wood, or like solid surface materials such as Corian.

PaperStone, made from recycled paper and natural resin, may be the greenest product on the market.

PaperStone (www.paperstoneproducts.com) is composed of postconsumer waste paper and a natural resin is used in its manufacture. Very strong and durable, its Certified line of  counters uses 100 percent postconsumer waste.

Richlite (www.richlite.com) is another paper-and-resin counter, made from pulp derived from managed forests in the U.S. Like PaperStone, this matte slab material comes in natural colors that add a soft, comfortable feel to the room. The surface is stain-, scratch-, and heat-resistant, durable, and easy to maintain.

With butcherblock, always look for FSC-certified wood.

Another material, Counterfeit, manufactured by shektaStone (www.shetkastone.com), is made from decommissioned paper money. Tops are scratchproof, waterproof, and stain-resistant and come in shades of green, including one that looks like marble and another that has pieces of U.S. Treasury bills visible in it. Saugerties designer Chuck Silver of  Hudson River Design purchased Counterfeit for his home because it's virtually 100 percent recycled material, he says. "It's a beautiful color—a very light green," says Silver. "My only concern is that it may not be completely waterproof if it gets scratched."

Even shredded aluminum is wending its way into tops. Alkemi (www.renewedmaterials.com) uses curled shavings of scrap aluminum that are embedded in a resin that comes in dozens of colors. The metal reflects light wonderfully, and the resin provides a space-age appearance. With both a cast and a polished side, the materials offer a choice of visual effects. The surface is fairly durable and resists heat; it also can be joined and molded as needed.

Not all materials are made alike. "The problem with the industry is, there's a lot of greenwashing these days," says Josh Klippert of PaperStone, referring to the practice of promoting products as green without using environmentally friendly materials or practices. "There's so much hyperbole about green, but people don't understand these products. I tell people to go to Environmental Building News, go to GreenSpec, and find out for yourself. Don't take my word for it. They pull your product apart and examine it."

(GreenSpec, the Consumer Reports of building materials, is a regularly updated book and online clearinghouse produced by BuildingGreen, Inc., an independent company based in Brattleboro, Vermont. The group also publishes the monthly newsletter Environmental Building News, the most highly regarded publication of its kind. Visit www.buildinggreen.com.)

One of the main problems with countertop products is the base, the materials with which the recycled product is paired. Klippert explains that most resins are not eco-friendly. Phenolic resin, used in most resin-based products, is petroleum-based and uses methanol in its substrate, whether fibers or paper. In fact, phenolic resin was the first plastic resin invented. It's what Bakelite is made of.

A few terrazzo-like materials are formed with epoxy resins. Epoxy is high performing, but it's also petroleum-based and its manufacture creates potential health risks. GreenSpec's Mark Piepkorn says that while cured epoxy is benign, GreenSpec doesn't include epoxy-based products in its listings due to the potential for upstream environmental liabilities.

Richlite is a paper-and-resin counter.

Concrete itself is not the most green product, because it requires so much embodied energy to manufacture, says Jodi Smits Anderson, an architect and LEED Approved Professional with Collins + Scoville Architects, P.C., in Albany. However, Anderson points out that, once it's cured, concrete is inert, and, of course, it exposes no glues or adhesives to food. "And these glass-and-concrete companies are doing great using recycle materials."

In an informal survey, the materials that come out on top of the green heap are IceStone, the terrazzo from Brooklyn, and PaperStone, made near Seattle in Washington State.

Says Anderson, "If I were to choose, I'd choose PaperStone. It's so dense and seemingly unscratchable. We've had it here for weeks at the office and been pounding on it, and get no scratches, nothing." She also likes the finish: "It's not hard like stone, and it's warmer to the touch than stone or concrete."

IceStone combines recycled glass in a concrete base to give the material a beautiful terrazzo-like look. It comes in 20 standard colors, but the color palette is nearly limitless.

PaperStone's mission is stated boldly on its website: "We are committed to making the most environmentally friendly composite products in the world."

Founder Klippert explains that while PaperStone uses resin in its production, his resin uses cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) phenols. There's no petroleum and zero free formaldehydes. "We removed all the petroleum features and went to water and cashew shell. Cashew is a better product than petroleum; however, it's not as refined or consistent. The crop changes from year to year, so you have to work with mother nature."

Says Piepkorn from GreenSpec, "Since most of these paper-based countertops use a pretty high amount of resin—about 40 percent by weight—the appeal of the nutshell resin starts to get even stronger."

Klippert's PaperStone Certified slab uses 100 percent post-consumer paper, and has FSC certification under its recycled-content program, which means no new trees were cut down to create his products.

And lest you doubt the strength of PaperStone, it was originally built as an all-weather base for outdoor skateboard ramps. Klippert says the material has a compressive strength of 45,000 PSI. "You can pound it with a sledgehammer. It can be cantilevered four feet off a base and carry a 1,000-pound weight and bend no more than 1/16th of an inch." Klippert is equally proud of its low cost and accessibility to do-it-yourselfers: "It's so soft it can be worked with woodworking tools. An average homeowner can install it himself at home and still have a 10-year factory warranty. And at $35 per square foot, it is a mainstream price, accessible to anyone."

PaperStone comes in widths of 30 and 60 inches and lengths of 8, 10, and 12 feet, with thicknesses from ¼ to 2 inches. It's currently available in Slate Black, Leather Brown, Mocha Brown, Denim Blue, Forest Green, Chocolate Brown, Straw Yellow, and Concrete Gray. It is distributed throughout our region by Bettencourt Green Building Supplies in Brooklyn (718-218-6737; www. bettencourtwood.com).

IceStone is a terrazzo-type material made from recycled glass in a concrete base. It uses natural materials in a secret formula to adhere the glass and concrete (otherwise, the two materials could crack and split the slab). The composite is formed into a slab, cured in a chamber, then polished, which makes it very strong—stronger than marble, says Miranda Maganini, the company's spokesperson, so strong it can easily be shipped around the country without breaking. "The glass in the stone makes it less porous than concrete, and the material has a luminescence from the glass"—and from shells that are sometimes throw in. IceStone comes in 20 standard colors, but the color palette is fully customizable.

The installation of IceStone is virtually the same as natural stone, so customers need to find a skilled stone fabricator to work with. This also means the price per foot for installation varies. Maganini quotes a range of $95 to $140 per square foot. IceStone is available in 52.5-inch by 8-foot slabs and 1.25-inch standard thickness. It also comes in large-format tiles. Weight: 14 pounds per square foot. IceStone is available direct from the factory. Call (718) 624-4900 or visit icestone.biz.

Both IceStone and PaperStone are involved in the Cradle to Cradle Certification program (www.mbdc.com), which is the industry's most rigorous review of a material and a company's human and environmental health impacts. The program involves evaluating energy-use quantity and quality, water-use quantity, water-effluent quality, and workplace ethics associated with manufacturing.

But Anderson acknowledges that there's no accounting for taste: "Your personal likes and dislikes have to be counted in. Even if you find the very best green counter, you still may not like it aesthetically."

All images provided courtesy the manufacturers. Butcherblock photo (page 1) courtesy Devos Woodworking.