Lightweight Granite: Easy on the Back and the Wallet

If there is one design element that has consistently been on top of every home buyer's and renter's wish list, it's granite.

Never mind that little scare about radiation emanating from granite counter tops (The Marble Institute of America [MIA] says the radon emitted from the most popular granite counter tops is lower than what you'd get from the sun.) And maybe you can overlook that schlepping the stuff from South American mines digs a bigger geographical footprint than King Kong.

But does the extreme weightiness of granite make you rethink the purchase of granite in all of its forms?