If you have ever painted a room and consequently, felt nauseous from the fumes, then you have already experienced one reason why there is a need for eco-friendly paints.
Think about what those fumes could, and probably are, doing to your body. Then, consider what the paint does to the planet when it is eventually disposed of in a landfill or some one’s personal dumping grounds in the woods.
Until recently, there were very few regulations on what could and could not be contained within interior wall paints. Specifically, the volatile organic compound (VOC) levels had been set so high that they were not safe for humans or the earth.
However, you are now able to purchase eco-friendly interior house paint with either “low” or even “ultra low” VOC levels. The drawback to these “green” alternatives is that they can be quite pricey. Hopefully, once they have been on the market for a few more years, the newness will wear off, and the price of the paint will drop.
If you need paint now and are not able to afford the high end line of paints, consider making eco-friendly interior house paint of your own. Often, paint recipes call for items that you may already have in your basement or garage. If there are additional items you must purchase, you can typically do so at local home improvement centers.
For example, one recipe calls for nothing more than skim milk, hydrated lime, and chalk. Another eco-friendly interior house paint you can make yourself uses only skim milk, builders lime, salt, linseed oil, and dye. As you can see, these ingredients are cheap and readily available. Most recipes are simple to follow and require no special equipment.
The main drawback to these homemade paints is that they do require a sealer on them in order to protect them from everyday use. You, of course, can leave them unsealed, but you are not able to scrub or wash them in the usual fashion, and the paint is susceptible to damage.
Right now, most paint companies are designing more eco-friendly interior house paint due to new government restrictions. However, consumers are also beginning to want more earth-friendly products and paint is no exception.
Although there are currently only a few options when it comes to eco-friendly paint options, look for that selection to broaden in the years ahead as companies seek to meet standards as well as consumer demands.
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Christine Cooney
Christine has over a decade of experience as a house plan and floor plan expert. Outside of providing her expertise to customers to help them find and build their dream homes, her passion and knowledge of the home building industry allows Christine to guide families and builders through all of the important steps from finding plans to building custom homes that meet the expectations of today’s new home owner. Christine’s years of knowledge of the diverse trends and needs of the modern homeowner has made her into an authoritative and trusted voice in the online house plan community..