We Are Environmentally Conscience Painters
Environmentally friendly paints are defined as having no detrimental effect on the environment, nor on society.
At Colorado Commercial & Residential Painting, we are inspired to help preserve the quality of the air we breathe and value the use of environmentally friendly paint that minimizes air quality impact without sacrificing performance.
Although paint is available in a rainbow of colors, not all paints are “green”.
It’s typically a simple thing to spot the difference between environmentally friendly paint and conventional paint. All you need to do is just pop open the lid and take a whiff.
The familiar fresh paint odor of a conventional latex or especially a solvent-borne paint consists of a variety of greenhouse gases and other environmentally harmful chemicals that are released to the atmosphere as the paint is applied and in the drying stages.
Eco-friendly paints, however, emit little or no environmentally unsafe materials into the air (we call these VOCs, which we talk about more below).
Many environmentally friendly paints contain ingredients like natural dyes, water, milk, casein, essential oils, plant oils, and resins. Additional ingredients are derived from natural minerals such as clay, chalk and talcum, milk casein, natural latex, bees’ wax, earth and mineral dyes. The oil-based natural paints usually have a pleasant fragrance of citrus or essential oils, while the water-based natural paints give off almost no odor at all.
These paints are proven to be the safest for your health and for our environment.
Why Do We Need Environmentally Friendly Paints?
The air you breathe indoors is more than three times as polluted as the air outdoors. A major source of indoor air pollution can be interior paint.
The reason is that most of these paints may contain harmful compounds, toxic substances, and chemicals – VOCs.
The paint production process can also very be energy-intensive.
What are VOCs?
VOCs are volatile organic compounds.
These include hydrogen and carbon. They evaporate easily into the air we breathe and can cause serious health concerns when inhaled.
The “green certified” paint that we can apply for your special project has no or low volatile organic compounds that are also harmful to our precious ozone layer.
These environmentally preferable coatings have been thoroughly tested according to science-based procedures and are proven to work as well or better than others in their class.
- VOCs can also be emitted from paint for over five years after application. These paints usually can contain toxic substances like formaldehyde and lead.
- VOCs can cause damage to the central nervous system. The American Lung Association has stated that VOCs can produce lung damage and damage to other organs.
- Exposure to VOCs during pregnancy may result in babies being born with low birth weight.
- VOCs have also been associated with delayed physical or mental development and learning disabilities.
- VOCs can also trigger asthma, nausea, migraines, and allergies.
Benefits of Environmentally Friendly Paint
Well, just about everyone and everything benefits from environmentally friendly paint.
As we just mentioned, eco-friendly paints contain little-to-no VOCs. Thus, they are safer for our air and everything that breathes it.
They don’t impact the ozone layer. Using eco-friendly paints lightens your carbon footprint.
Environmentally friendly paints contain natural ingredients like clay, milk proteins called casein, citrus, lime, and balsam.
Eco-friendly paints emit little-to-no smell. Moreover, the odor dissipates in under a few hours.
Besides being eco-friendly, these products are also effective in reducing mold, condensation, and mildew.
Eco-friendly paints meet the EPA and GREENGUARD Environmental Institute standards for environmentally friendly paints.
Are There Disadvantages?
Although environmentally friendly paint is mostly beneficial, there might be some reasons people don’t want to use it.
- Low VOC paints can be more expensive.
- Environmentally friendly paints are harder to apply and take longer to complete because you require more coats.
What to Look For
- Is the paint labeled low or no VOC?
- Is the paint certified by GREENGUARD Environmental Institute?
- Is there a “certified organic” label?
- What ingredients are listed? Beware of things like heavy metal pigments or petroleum.
We carry a wide variety of environmentally friendly paints from brands like Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore, and KILZ. If you’d like to use this type of paint on the interior or exterior of your home or business, we’ll make our best recommendations.
Contact us today for a free estimate.
