Earth Day Tips

With today being Earth Day and all, I thought I would share some earth friendly design tid-bits that we implement in our home.

image via Racket

First and foremost, ALWAYS try to find something used before going straight for the new stuff. Most of our most beloved pieces in our home are used, whether it be by only a few years, or almost 100 years.

Turning old junk to beauty: Card Catalog style

Knobs, knobs, and more knobs

Kitchen Makeover: Part 482, THE END

Craigslist Find: Post Office Box

For some reason a lot of people believe that you either have to spend the big bucks, or always buy brand new, for a piece to be great. I can honestly say that 95+% of our home is from Craigslist, estate sale/garage sales, side of the road, or hand-me-downs, and we LOVE it. Recycle items and you will have an even greater appreciation for them.

Second, at all times possible, use supplies that are earth friendly. For paints, here is a list that I grabbed from AT that are all low-VOC &/or natural ingredients:

Benjamin Moore Pristine EcoSpec Paint: contains less than 10 grams of VOC's per liter. Low odor, low VOC, 100% acrylic latex paint that comes in flat, egg-shell and semi gloss. You buy Eco-Spec as a base white and then get it mixed to color, which includes off-whites and neutrals, but does not include the darker and brighter colors.

Bioshield Clay and Casein paints: natural raw ingredient paints; just add water to ready-to-mix powder. Be sure to check out their closeouts section (we like the Mandarin Milk Paint).

Yolo Colorhouse: water-based, Green Seal certified, and zero-VOC paint created by Portland, Oregon-based artists, Janie Young and Virginia Lowe. Available in a palette of 40 hues are specifically designed for interiors and categorized by nature's spectrum of air, grain, leaf, water, stone, clay and the bright hued petal range. Love their packaging!

Harmony Interior Latex: A Good Housekeeping choice, the Harmony line uses sustainable raw materials, like soy and sunflower oil in their formulation to keep solvent content low and VOCs in the zero-VOC range. Advertised as mildew and bacteria resistant.

Green Planet Paints: Soy-based resins with clay formulations and mineral pigments keep this line of paint as organic as your farmer's market produce. We like that disclose all ingredients in their paint formulas right there on the can.

Homestead House Paint Company: a 100% acrylic paint formulated to perform well ontop of existing previous applications and has the appearance of milkpaint.

Dunn-Edwards EcoShield: an MPI Green Performance Standard rated product, the low odor EcoShield line was created initially for use in schools, hospitals, hotels, homes and other closed-ventilation buildings, and is ethylene glycol free.

Devoe Wonder Pure Interior Latex Odor-Free Paints: available in flat, eggshell and semi-gloss, the Devoe Wonder-Pure line is advertised as odour free and can be applied without sanding.

Olympic Premium: A Green Seal Certification "Class A" paint also awarded the Home Safety Council's Commendation Awards for Product Innovation for Consumer Safety.

Anna Sova Latex Wall Paint: the eco-branded Healthy Wall Finish contains 99% food grade ingredients, making this non-VOC paint a good choice for interior with children and pregnant women.

Source: AT

And heres another list that puts a BIG smile on my face {hint hint- Behr PPU hit #1 in all three categories, which is the only brand we use, HOORAAYY!}

Here's the Consumer Reports rated top 5 for each finish type:

Low-Luster (Satin & Eggshell)
1. Behr Premium Plus Ultra (Home Depot), $33/gallon, 50 VOC grams/liter
2. Kilz Casual Colors (Walmart), $22/gallon, 50 VOC grams/liter
3. Valspar Signature Colors (Lowe's) $32/gallon, 50 VOC grams/liter
4. Glidden Premium (Home Depot), $20/gallon, 50 VOC grams/liter
5. Behr Premium Plus Enamel (Home Depot), $23/gallon, 150 VOC grams/liter

Flat & Matte
1. Behr Premium Plus Ultra, $31/gallon, 50 VOC grams/liter
2. Behr Premium Plus Enamel, $17/gallon, 100 VOC grams/liter
3. Valspar Signature Colors, $28/gallon, 50 VOC grams/liter
4. Benjamin Moore Natura, $50/gallon, 50 VOC grams/liter
5. Olympic Premium (Lowe's), $16/gallon, 0 VOC grams/liter

Semigloss
1. Behr Premium Plus Ultra, $31/gallon, 50 VOC grams/liter
2. Benjamin Moore Natura, $50/gallon, 50 VOC grams/liter
3. Valspar Ultra Premium (Lowe's), $23/gallon, 50 VOC grams/liter
4. Valspar Signature Colors, $32/gallon, 50 VOC grams/liter
5. Benjamin Moore Regal, $45/gallon, 150 VOC grams/liter

Source: AT

Along with using earth friendly {and people friendly} paints, also always try to wash and re-use supplies. Whether that be paint brushes, tarps, paint pans, rollers, etc. You would be surprised at how many uses you can get from something. We personally use our brushes until there is NO possible way we could use it again.

Hope some of these paint tips, and reminders of buying used help refresh you today! Lets go out and do something, anything, that will be good for the earth and others today.

<3,
Adri

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