Environmentalism in the home is hip these days, but it's a far cry from any neo-hippie notion of weaving your own linen upholstery fabric from flax you've raised organically. Rather, earth consciousness has gone upscale, in the form of decorative, sustainable products that appeal as much to our sense of beauty as to our sense of responsibility.

We asked author and green-building advocate Jennifer Roberts and a few interior designers for their suggestions of decorative elements that are both earth-friendly and elegant. Here are a few of their favorites.

Glass tiles

Roberts uses "exquisite" and "jewellike" to describe the hand-crafted glass tiles made by Oceanside Glasstile in Carlsbad, Calif.

The company uses discarded bottles, post-industrial recycled glass and silica sand to make the tiles, which contain up to 85 percent recycled content. The hand-cut pieces include metallics as well as translucent tiles, which have a shimmering, watery quality. The tiles come in both mosaic sheets and larger tiles and can be used for kitchen or bath counters, walls, floors and pools.

Bamboo flooring

Just a few years ago, bamboo seemed an exotic choice for flooring. Now it's going mainstream.

Bamboo flooring is made from strips of bamboo cane, glued together under heat and pressure to form planks that rival or exceed hardwoods in durability. Some bamboo flooring shows the bamboo nodes - the rings that look like knuckles - and therefore has a tropical look, while other types look much like hardwood flooring.

Because the canes grow big enough for harvesting in five years or less, bamboo is a quickly renewable resource. What's more, bamboo flooring is available prefinished, so you don't have to suffer through having the floor finished in your home, according to Marcia Wolff, owner of the interior design firm Design Council in Akron, Ohio.

"It wouldn't look right in every setting," she said, "but in the right place, it's gorgeous."

Cork flooring

Another flooring material that many designers love for its beauty and functionality is cork. Cork was popular in the first half of the 20th century, and it's recently come back into favor because of its environmental benefits and improvements in its looks.

Cork is the bark of the cork oak tree. If harvested properly, it can be stripped from a mature tree every nine years without harm.

One manufacturer that interior designer Alan Garren likes, Expanko Inc. of Parkesburg, Pa., uses both bark and cork waste in its flooring. The cork is ground, baked in molds and cut into slabs, then finished with wax or polyurethane.

Linoleum

Linoleum is often used as a generic term for vinyl flooring, but the two are not the same. Linoleum is made primarily from natural ingredients including linseed oil, which oxidizes over time to make it more durable.

It's also become something of a fashion statement in the last decade. Interior designer Cynthia J. Hoffman and Wolff are partial to Marmoleum, a brand of linoleum from Forbo Flooring that comes in a variety of colors and designs that can be combined to create patterns much like rugs.

Linoleum is comfortable underfoot and holds up well under heavy traffic, which is why Hoffman chose it for a playroom she designed in Rocky River. Dust doesn't cling to it, and the oxidation of the linseed oil keeps microorganisms from multiplying on it, giving it an antibacterial quality.

Information on Marmoleum is available at www.forbolinoleumna.com.

Natural fabrics

Both Hoffman and Hudson interior designer Pamela Bayer are enamored with Indika, a brand of natural fabrics woven in Kalispell, Mont.

The fabrics are made from natural and organically grown materials such as silk, hemp and organic cotton, and are free of synthetic chemicals and dyes. Plant and vegetable dyes create variation in the color of the fabrics, giving it a richness, Bayer said.

Indika information is available at www.indikahome.com or 866-446-3452.

In most settings, Wolff steers her clients away from wallcoverings that contain vinyl. One alternative she particularly likes is Innvironments, a line of wallcovering from Innovations in Wallcoverings Inc.

The products in the Innvironments line are made from either natural and renewable or recyclable materials, using water-based inks.

More information is available at Innovations in Wallcoverings's Web site, www.innovationsusa.com.

Glass-chip counters

Chips of recycled glass embedded in a solid-surface material put a sparkly new spin on kitchen and bath counter tops.

The material, which resembles a terrazzo floor, is strong and heat-resistant. One brand, IceStone, is made from 75 percent recycled materials; another, Vetrazzo, has an 80 percent recycled content.

Neither product is sold locally, but Counter Production, which makes Vetrazzo, has an online showroom at www.counterproduction.com.