“What is the use of a house if you don’t have a decent planet to put it on?” Henry David Thoreau
The choice to use environmentally friendly paint and plaster directly effects our planet’s well-being. Tiny changes seem like a drop in the paint bucket, but when multiplied add up to a healthier world. For artists such as ourselves, a wise choice is using water-based environmentally friendly paint instead of oils. There are some benefits to oils, such as slower drying time and better leveling—but the environmental toxicity far outweighs the positives.
Hudson River School landscape mural honors our planet’s beauty
Since starting our business, Arteriors committed to only using water-based paints because they’re healthier for people and the environment. The most environmentally-friendly paints are all-natural and don’t have oil or acrylic ingredients.
Here are important considerations for choosing materials:
- What’s the level of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the paint?
- Are VOCs used in color pigments?
- Are paints non-toxic and natural?
- What’s the product’s carbon footprint? (What energy produced the product and moved it to your location?)
An eco friendly environment for Chiropractor Brad Weiss: Bamboo mural creates visual and environmental health
In choosing the best designer paint finishes, we often use Benjamin Moore and California Paints. Both companies offer a range of environmentally-friendly products.
An important consideration is that some paints get labeled VOC-free – except once you choose a color and the pigments added to the paints actually have volatile organic compounds. This is one of the reasons Arteriors mixes our own paint colors with our own pigments. We get precise custom colors and all our water-based pigments are 95% VOC-free, unlike most pigments found in paint stores. We want your home or business to be beautiful, healthy and safe.
Since we mix our paints in custom batches, there’s far less waste. When we can, we use leftovers in personal art projects. Recycling would be ideal, but stores and towns don’t have a reliable solution…yet. When necessary, we solidify excess paint for proper disposal.
“California” Paints actually come from Andover, Massachusetts—shrinking our carbon footprint because the paint spends less time on trucks! We also use paints with colors made from minerals, like BioShield Paints. Completely VOC-free, BioShield is a great choice for health care facilities seeking a toxin-free environment.
American Clay cement like finish, applied in two subtly different colors
We’re also huge fans of natural decorative plasters, like Venetian plaster, Marmarino, Veneziano, American Clay and others. Thinking globally and acting locally, we use Vasari Venetian plaster and American Clay because they’re American companies using natural, non-toxic, biodegradable and sustainable resources. They come to us from the western U.S. but using American ground limestone, marble and clay prevents the Sasquatch-sized carbon footprint of importing from Europe. Along with being super gorgeous, these decorative surfaces add LEED points to eco-friendly projects, improve air quality and prevent mold and mildew.
Veneziano decorative plaster
We transform and make over your space—and we’re committed to protecting the environment. Renewing, reinvigorating, and re-using are much more low-impact than full-scale renovating. Our environmentally-friendly practices allow us to tread as lightly as possible.
Have any other suggestions for environmentally friendly paint practices? We’d love to hear about them!
Arteriors: contact us today for healthy, environmentally friendly paint and plaster.
