In our last house, we tried to eliminate weeds by replacing mulch with rock. (And rock is way more expensive than mulch but lasts forever). We picked the colour and type of rock at "Dirt Cheap" and had it installed by "Have Rock Will Roll".
Instead of picking weeds off mulch, I ended up picking weeds off rocks. (Well, actually, I used a lot of vinegar to attempt to kill the weeds "naturally", but that is another story).
Now we've moved, and we're back to mulch again. This time, I have no idea how we'll proceed.