What is the most environmentally friendly paving option for landscape architects?
Updated: Oct 9
To make more sustainable choices for the future, it is worth looking to materials that have stood the test of time. Natural stone offers landscape architects a durable and considered option — one that can be both highly functional and visually striking.
When thoughtfully selected and used in harmony with its surroundings, natural stone can become a defining element of outdoor spaces. Its longevity allows it to remain part of a landscape for generations, while its natural composition avoids many of the intensive manufacturing processes associated with synthetic materials.
Natural stone has been part of our planet for billions of years, formed through natural geological processes and shaped over time. Today, reclaimed and recycled stone can give existing materials a new purpose, further extending their lifespan and supporting a more circular approach to landscape design.
For Allgreen, natural stone represents a material that combines enduring beauty, performance, and a more thoughtful approach to sustainability.
Photo Credit: Allgreen & Richard Bloom
NATURAL ECO-FRIENDLY PAVING MATERIALS VS. STANDARD CONCRETE PAVING & CERAMICS
It’s been widely reported that the ceramics industry involves highly energy-intensive manufacturing processes to create products. Alarmingly, these raw materials must be shaped, formed and fired at incredibly high temperatures that typically exceed 1,000°C.
It’s unsurprising then that a DNV Association study, as reported by Stone Federation Great Britain, shows the global warming potential of large-format ceramic tiles is 74% higher than that of natural stone. And, furthermore, concrete comes with its own set of climate-related challenges; baggage that simply cannot be overlooked beneath the lens of today’s rapidly rising temperatures. In particular, concrete’s energy-intensive manufacturing process is why the cement construction industry makes up 8% of Earth’s global emissions. Perhaps even worse still is that the product has an innate ability to produce ‘heat islands’ long after the material has been laid on the ground.
Positively, evidence suggests that opting for a more sustainable design today can be a vital part of the solution for tomorrow. Environmentally friendly paving doesn't just reduce the carbon impact of our landscapes; it has countless additional benefits for your customers too.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF NATURAL STONE PAVING
Formed over millions of years, this natural product is the perfect eco-friendly choice for climate-conscious customers and any designer tasked with making a more positive impact on the planet. As a pure product of the Earth, natural stone doesn't involve synthetic processes which carry a sizable carbon footprint. With its tactile, characterful feel and unique aesthetics, each piece has an alluring personality and numerous benefits for your customers and the climate.
Zahra Beige Stackers
LONGEVITY AND DURABILITY
The life cycle of this ruggedly beautiful and durable building material is staggering. Not only is it formed over hundreds of thousands of years - Earth’s heat, pressure and varying minerals creating a uniquely patterned blueprint on each piece - but it’s also naturally engineered to last.
Born from the ground, this eco-friendly material is bestowed with an in-built robustness - tailor-made to withstand the toughest elements. Unlike synthetic materials, natural stone’s aesthetic and physical properties are far easier to maintain. With the correct maintenance and care, these flawless monoliths are the first choice to elevate any outdoor space.
PERMEABILITY
Fascinatingly enticing and functionally effective, natural materials like sandstone and limestone are porous, allowing moisture to soak into them. Natural stone can also be installed as a permeable surface to help with heavy rainfall and water drainage, reducing surface runoff whilst promoting groundwater recharge. When installed with highly-permeable bedding such as a gravel or sand base, natural paving enhances drainage further. This robust system allows more water to percolate through the gaps between the stones, providing an alluring yet absorptive surface for garden paths, patios and driveways.
RECYCLABILITY
Natural stone is one of the most recyclable materials available, making it a natural choice for eco-conscious construction and sustainable landscaping. Reclaimed stone can be sourced from a wide range of places, including deconstructed buildings, existing structures, and highway upgrades, giving these materials a new purpose while supporting a more circular approach to construction.
Allgreen’s signature Darley Reclaimed Yorkshire Sandstone, for example, is predominantly reclaimed from pavements, streets, and highways. Used for hundreds of years, this highly sustainable stone offers both character and durability, making it particularly well suited to heritage and conservation projects. From paving and pathways to decorative landscape elements, reclaimed stone can be repurposed in countless ways, offering landscape architects a sustainable material with history, character, and purpose.
Photo Credit: Allgreen - Darley Reclaimed Yorshire Sandstone
ZERO WASTE
At Allgreen, it isn’t just paving where sustainability and waste reduction are purposely prioritised. Their Durlston and Aston stone cladding has been 100% environmentally engineered using offcuts and waste. Conceived during the pandemic, thier signature Zahra Beige Washed Limestone Stackers® were originally constructed from waste products - crucial when clay paver supply was so difficult and restricted.
Waste reduction at Allgreen extends far beyond the creation of their products, with sustainable practices and conscious craftsmanship continuing through the end-of-life stage of their eco-friendly stones. Allgreen works to keep landfill waste to an absolute minimum, ensuring that materials that can be reused are given a second purpose. Stone processing offcuts and other byproducts, for example, are crushed and repurposed for access roads, as well as carbon-reducing foundations and bases for agricultural buildings.
By supporting the local economy and finding practical uses for stone byproducts, Allgreen helps reduce landfill waste, lessen the environmental impact of disposal, minimize quarrying activity, and contribute to lower construction costs.
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
One of the key benefits of working with recycled materials is that they require significantly less processing, often involving little more than reworking or cutting the stone to the desired size and shape.
At Allgreen, recycled glass is also used in the sandblasting process, helping to reduce energy consumption and the environmental impact associated with producing new materials.
LOCAL SOURCING
Locally sourced natural stone helps minimise transportation emissions, support regional economies, and reduce the overall carbon footprint associated with material sourcing. At Allgreen, they are committed to lowering the carbon impact of their stone by sourcing materials from countries closer to the UK wherever possible.
Photo Credit: Allgreen
LOWER ENERGY AND MORE CONSIDERED SOURCING
Recycled natural stone requires considerably less processing than producing new manufactured materials, often involving little more than reworking or cutting existing stone to the required size and shape. Natural stone quarrying also generally requires less energy than the manufacturing processes associated with many synthetic or highly processed alternatives, while using recycled stone can further reduce its overall environmental impact.
Sourcing stone closer to its final destination can also help reduce transportation emissions. Allgreen is committed to reducing the carbon footprint of its stone by sourcing from countries closer to the UK, while also offering locally sourced options such as Durlston-honed limestone, quarried from the Purbeck Hills, and Darley Sawn sandstone, quarried in Yorkshire.
PAVING THE WAY TO A GREENER FUTURE
There is no single material that can solve every sustainability challenge in landscape design, but the choices made at the specification stage can have a meaningful impact. For landscape architects and designers, this means considering not only how a material looks when complete, but where it comes from, how it is processed, how long it will last, whether it can be reused, and how it interacts with the surrounding landscape.
Natural stone offers an opportunity to make that choice more thoughtfully. Its longevity, potential for reclamation, natural composition, permeability, and opportunities for local sourcing make it a compelling material for projects where sustainability is part of the design brief.
At Allgreen, they believe sustainable choices should still feel beautiful, tactile, and enduring. Creating a greener landscape does not mean compromising on design — it means choosing materials that work with the landscape and continue to do so for years to come.
Ready to see and feel the natural difference?
Get in touch with Allgreen to explore the collection.
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