New car smell. It used to be something people got excited about: that whiff of fresh-cast plastic, hot off the poly presses. They've even made New Car Smell spray (I refuse to link on principle). Fortunately, people are much more aware of the allergies and respiratory problems that come from breathing in the “off gassing” that comes from new plastic, including fresh paint, shower curtains and carpeting. I mean, really, we aren’t supposed to live in a box lined with carcinogenic materials!

Thankfully, you can get area rugs and carpets that were made just as nature intended them to be: woven and knotted with wool, silk, hemp, aloe and jute. These traditional fibers are used in elegant Persian, Himalayan and other Oriental rugs. Wall to wall wool carpeting is warm, naturally stain resistant and biodegradable (and better feeling underfoot than drying plastic carpet). If you'd like to replace those plastic fiber rugs with real fiber, make sure to recycle them so that they can be made into new carpeting and never enter a landfill.

Image: Natural Area Rugs