Have you ever felt as if you were going to collapse while busy painting your home? It’s a horrible feeling—one you won’t want to repeat. If you haven’t had this experience, it’s probably because you don’t do your own painting or because you are informed and use environmentally friendly house paint.
The Impact of Toxins in Paint
For centuries, humans have used paint to add color and interest to their homes. However, it is only in relatively recent times that toxins—particularly lead and volatile organic compounds (VOCs)—have been added to paint. Paint chemists likely didn’t set out to harm people; their goal was to create superior paint products with better color and longevity. This would lead to improved sales and higher profits for the manufacturing companies.
You might think this drive for improvement stemmed from consumer demand, and in many ways, it did. Ironically, as lead and other VOCs in paint have been recognized as harmful to humans and the environment, consumers are now demanding environmentally friendly house paint products. This shift has given rise to a new breed of paint chemists and companies focused on supplying paint that won’t harm anyone or anything.
For some time, house paints sold in North America and other parts of the world have been required to comply with laws specifying minimum environmental standards, including limits on toxic ingredients such as harmful preservatives.
Choosing Eco-Friendly Options
While synthetic paints tend to last longer and are cheaper due to mass production by multinational companies, opting for more expensive, eco-friendly products can be worthwhile. If these products are effective and environmentally friendly, doing your part to help save our planet is a noble choice—especially considering that our planet is in serious trouble.
Moreover, consider the effects that non-environmentally friendly paint can have on our health. You could try painting a small room with a typical toxic paint—keeping the windows closed—to see how it feels. While this might convince you to switch to zero VOC paints, we don’t recommend this experiment.
Unlike products developed by multinational companies, eco-friendly options are not always widely available. Therefore, you may need to research what is accessible in your area regarding environmentally friendly house paint.
Some innovative eco-friendly paints use milk, soybeans, clay, and pigments, with the best being categorized as totally zero VOC. Here are a few examples:
The Real Milk Paint Co. produces paint based on traditional recipes that include curdled milk, cottage cheese, lime, and earth pigments. It works best on raw wood and unsealed surfaces but won’t coat metal, plastics, or anything previously painted with oil-based or enamel paints. According to the company, this paint is suitable for exterior use and becomes increasingly durable as moisture passes through it.
Homestead House in Toronto, Canada, is also a supplier of milk paints and is the only Canadian company to do so. They recently developed a milk paint bond that can be used on previously painted and varnished surfaces, allowing for easy repainting.
Bioshield, a manufacturer of natural paints operating in both the US and Canada, also produces milk paints, reflecting a growing trend. They offer clay paints and related products, all free from toxins, additives, or harmful chemicals.
Green Plant Paints produces zero VOC, soy-based interior paint products. These paints contain no petroleum; instead, they use clay-based pigments and other renewable materials. According to the manufacturer, the paint is sustainable, tough, durable, and long-lasting.
Another Canadian company, Eco-House, Inc., produces a silicate dispersion paint (inorganic mineral paint) that is known for its durability and resistance to acid rain. Developed in Germany during the late 1880s, this paint has been used for various historical restoration projects. What sets it apart is that it uses a liquid mineral as the binder, penetrating the surface to repel water while allowing water vapor to escape. They claim it won’t blister or peel, and it is currently available in white and nine additional colors.
Anna Sova, a company specializing in organic luxury products, also manufactures milk paints. Based in Dallas, Texas, this company boasts that its paint products are made with up to 90% food ingredients, making them unique among eco-friendly brands. Perhaps with their products, you’ll love the walls of your rooms painted with environmentally friendly house paints!
