not the greenest option, but a lot of the solid surface companies are now using products with pretty high percentages of recycled material, and look pretty good we just did our kitchen, and i couldnt find too many around here in Virginia that offered the recycled glass, let alone justify the price. granite was absolutely not an option(grew up in colorado springs, ive seen first hand what granite quarrying does to a mountain. the designer was boggled that i refused granite. i tried to explain, but here in this region, theyre about 10yrs behind the west regarding real sustainability or recycling). i didnt want the particle board/laminate countertops as theyre throw away. so we went with the corian. yeah its plasticish, it probably takes a ton of energy to make, but the transit to here was short(and put Americans to work) it can be repaired,(not many others can be), contained some industrial by product/recycled/reclaimed content, and it looked nice. install was fast and took little to no adhesives. will the next owners probably jsut throw it away? maybe. id like to hope that it would end up in someone elses kitchen though. i know laminate wont, and granite doesnt travel well. sure theres a lot of other options, but wheres it manufactured? hows it manufactured? and at the end of the day, whats it cost? i love the way granite looks, really, but i really find it less than functional, and tough to justify for me the stripping a mountain of million year old stone so my kitchen looks nice. thats prepostrous to me. nevermind what happens when it stains, or cracks? it ends up in the trash. thats wasteful. wasting some laminated/compressed paper, or particle board is one thing, but stone is something completely different. that crap cant just be grown again. apologize for the resurection of this topic

Hahah Hollysprings - Oh goodness no! I didn't bend it or make it. Sorry if I was misleading (new to posting here). I bought the rectangle pre-fab'd and am hoping to put a drop in prep sink. It was a "bone yard" piece at a manufacturer near me. There's damage on one corner, but not significant. I don't have to put a sink in it, but a little prep sink would be nice, and I can make it work in my existing kitchen, so figured I'd do as much of it myself as possible. Davidro1 and lazygardens - thanks for the advice. I am getting to the googling now.

Whoa Nellie!!!!! Someone told you to stay away from Marble? Shame on them! First off Marble has been around for 1000s of years. Octavia herself had marble surrounding her when she put on her makeup. Some of the greatest chefs who roamed the planet cooked on Marble. Being Italian I have to say Marble is the way to go. And Greeks, Italinos and NYC cooks can all agree that rolling out dough on a marble surface is a dream. Yes, Marble etches. Yes, Marble can stain and Yes Marble has a reputation for being sensitive. But Marble is BEAUTIFUL. And Marble is not as difficult to care for as most people believe. It can be cleaned with Bleach. Yes, good ole fashioned bleach. I do not mean Comet or one of those powder bleaches. They can scratch. Every 5-10 years have it re-honed or treated by a stone expert. They can buff to perfection. And of course Seal your marble every 6 months. You would have to thie with Blue or Emerald Pearl granite. And you really can't bleach your granite. That could create some ugly whitish looking marks. In a bathroom bleach is a great cleaner and even better with MARBLE. How to clean Marble from E-How http://www.ehow.com/how_4870687_clean-marble.html ".....One of the best cleaners you can use on your cultured marble is a bleach water solution. Use a 2/1 ratio of bleach and water to clean your cultured marble. Spray the surface with this solution and wipe with a soft cloth. Always keep the cultured marble wet while working on it. To fill fine scratches and restore shine, try a small amount of car/appliance wax, or silicone sealer...." Okay lets look at Marble for your bathroom. I really think you need to reconsider Marble for your bathroom. Ask the gang over in Kitchens. There are many who love their Marble. And some of these folks use vinegar, lemon, tomato sauce and olive oil which we all know can stain it. These are all from Decorpad... Park Hyatt Sydney Marble Carrera thid Old House Siegrist After NOW. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK below at how beautiful marble would be with your auburn stain. Sorry I sound pushy, I just can help but think you want Marble and the entire Pearl search was because you were accidentally misguided. If I am wrong. Please forgive me. At least you have had fun thinking about options. ~boxer Marble Statuario Venato Calcutta Gold ( a few streaks to go with the Auburn stain) Carrera Marble Venatino Marble Here is a link that might be useful: Why NOT do Marble?

I also have ECO by Cosentino in my kitchen, from 2017. I was impressed by their claims that it needs no maintenance (sealing or other) and now I have severe dark staining around the kitchen faucet (possibly due to our hard water), and no idea how to clean it, as their recommendations are to avoid all caustic or abrasive cleaning products. (Might have to experiment, since it's hard to imagine anything will make it WORSE.) (Btw, this replaced a Corian countertop & built-in sink that had a HUGE CRACK running through it, so yeah, no complaints about glass pop-outs or staining, but...) I have Vetrazzo (also recycled glass) in the bathroom, and even though they say to re-seal it, I never have and it looks great 12 years later. I don't know how it would hold up to coffee, red wine, or soy sauce spills, but at least it hasn't had a problem with water! The bad news is that Vetrazzo was bought by Polycor, which has really under-promoted it, and now it's very hard to find. I managed to get a Vetrazzo fireplace mantel in 2017 from a fabricator who had a remnant, but now neither they nor the fabricator who did my bathroom still carry Vetrazzo. I have also had Icestone in another bathroom since 2017 (I guess I am inadvertently testing all the recycled glass countertop materials) and it has also held up well. No water stains. Of the 3, Vetrazzo is my favorite because of the look (the glass bits are bigger than Icestone and just beautiful, IMHO), but I would also go with Icestone again. Don't buy ECO if you're going to have water.