And in 2009-10, over 260 tonnes of paint was disposed through the program? (Source: Inside Waste Weekly) Since recently building a new house, I wanted to investigate options for any non-toxic products available to paint the interior walls. The ones I found are solvent free which means they are good for the environment and provide healthier indoor air quality with low or zero levels of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) - which can be potentially carcinogenic. They also have the added benefit of covering more area than normal store bought paint. One very interesting thing I did discover about Perth is that usually the sealer undercoats for walls are all toxic oil based products, which immediately stops the building breathing and making their new walls and home, a toxic environment. I found a vapour permeable acrylic primer which is water based and can be used to seal porous surfaces such as new plaster. What I found is that it doesn’t smell like the oil based sealers do. The paints I discovered are also water based so they should be better for the environment since they incorporate plant dyes, oils and waxes instead of chemicals. I used a 100% acrylic paint with matt finish gives an incredible coverage compared to regular water based paint. I didn't know why but apparently I was told that since the Europeans keep their paint clean and chemical free you only need to add water to get good coverage. Plus it was tinted to my colour choice using a plant based dye not a chemical. If you want further information about these paints, please reply to this post and we can pass on the distributor's details. Also, liquid paint should never be thrown into your household bin where it can end up in landfill, the paint will be carried by water seeping through the garbage and could easily contaminate groundwater. For this reason, full or partially full cans of paint should be disposed of at your nearest HHW collection facility. Check out http://www.wastenet.net.au/programs/hhwprog/index.html for details of where you can drop off your unwanted tins of paint. Also look at Planet Ark's website for non-toxic paint stockists. Remember also that even if you can’t use it up; give it to someone who can. The recycling centres at Balcatta & Tamala Park accept useable paint which people can purchase – so if you have a small project and are in need of some paint then why not pay your local recycling centre a visit. These sites also take unwanted paint and either sell on for reuse or dispose of safely. Have you chosen environmentally friendly paints over ‘regular’ paints? What do you do with your leftover paint? Note: The views expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not representative of MRC. My endorsement of these products are purely based on my personal opinion and experience. 11 Jul 2011 12:01 AM / Global Administrator / hazardous, household, leftover, non-toxic, paint, recycling, waste / 2 comments
lue xei just read your comments, we also have used the Oikos range of paints and they were terrific, we got them from melbourne store at surrey hills 03 9888 6000 7/11/2011 8:42 AM