I was feeling a little under the weather today, so I curled up on the couch with a nice hot cup of tea and watched some of my favorite home improvement shows. During one particular episode, I noticed a new product called Slate-ish and it piqued my interest immediately.
Slate-ish looks like slate tiles, but is actually made of the post industrial waste of paper laminate. It is FSC certified paper or recycled paper and looks like natural stone tiles. According to the Slate-ish website, the panels can be used for countertops, cutting boards, skateboard ramps, and in various manufacturing processes.
Slate-ish also uses the trimmings from the manufacturing and fabricating process to make tiles for walls and flooring. Add that to the claim that “production requires very little energy to process raw scrap into finished goods” and you’ve got yourself a very eco-friendly new product. This is especially true if you want the natural stone look without the guilt of purchasing something that had to be mined.
There isn’t a lot of information on Slate-ish readily available unfortunately, so you will need to be patient and willing to do some leg work if you are interested in learning more about it. There is a website available, but you can’t purchase anything directly online from it. Also, the site directs you to where you can buy Slate-ish, but most of the outlets are brick and mortar stores in select areas of the country. So you will have to call for a price quote and availability.
On top of that, the only website I found that listed Slate-ish for sale online was pretty vague. Based on what I found, I’m assuming the tiles run around $17 a square foot, since the listing never specified size and they only had four styles available. You can order samples directly from Slate-ish for a price that includes all seven available colors.
Slate-ish is a non-porous, eco friendly alternative to natural stone and can be used in many applications. It’s definitely a product to check out before you begin your next makeover, just remember you will have to get in touch with a dealer to find out most of the specifics so make sure you give yourself adequate time before beginning your project.