As to less toxic products.

Actual linoleum (e.g., marmoleum by forgo) is non-toxic and all natural. It’s made from flax seed oil, wood flour, pine rosins, jute, limestone and pigments. It’s very different from vinyl — first, the color goes all the way through instead of being a picture on the surface. Next, it’s durable and long lasting. Finally, it’s also what people would use in high-end houses way back when our neighborhood was being built. Some folks in the neighborhood have linoleum floors and there are companies that can install it. But first spend some time deciding if that’s what you want as it is not for everybody.

Another green option is to put in a wood floor. That’s amazingly do-able in most Nob Hill houses. I replaced a pine subfloor in my kitchen with oak. They didn’t have to take out any cabinets and it came out great. You will want to finish the wood though and some finishes are smelly but there’s low VOC alternatives around.

Michael