Why You Should Choose Environmentally Safe Paint for Your Brisbane Home

As we live in a world that’s becoming more and more focused on sustainability and being environmentally friendly, it’s important to factor this in when painting your Brisbane home. Whether it’s a new paint job or a repaint, why not choose environmentally safe paint? You’ll achieve fantastic results and be doing your bit to save the planet in the process.

This article covers the benefits of using environmentally safe paint, explains what makes this type of paint eco-friendly, and also provides tips on selecting the best green paints for your projects.

What makes paint eco-friendly?

Before digging into the environmental and health benefits of using environmentally safe paints, it’s important to understand what makes them so eco-friendly in the first place.

Sustainable paints are usually either low-VOC or VOC-free. VOC represents a ‘volatile organic compound’ and most paints in days gone were high-VOC paints. Rather than formulating paints using harsh chemicals, natural ingredients make up the bulk of the mixture, ensuring a low-VOC outcome.

To further explain the harmfulness of high-VOC paints, as you apply paint, VOCs are chemicals that evaporate into the air. This adds to air pollution and they can also irritate the eyes, nose and throat. People with allergies or asthma are even more susceptible to the irritants of high-VOC paints. Inhaling VOCs can also cause headaches and nausea. However, the use of natural ingredients helps preserve the environment.

Another point to note about eco safe paints is they are usually biocide-free. Biocides are preservatives that are sometimes added to paints, with the idea to prevent bacteria build up inside the can. However, biocides are particularly harmful to aquatic life if any biocide paint residue finds its way into the waterways.

Let’s now cover some environmental and health benefits of eco-friendly paints.

Eco-friendly paint promotes healthier indoor air quality

One of the greatest advantages of using eco-friendly low-VOC paint indoors is it promotes healthier air quality. As previously mentioned, VOCs are irritants and pollutants, so when you coat your interior walls, ceilings and other fixtures with low-VOC paint, you’re really doing everyone in the household a massive favour. Another thing to note is that eco-friendly paints have very little odour, adding to the comfort of your indoor space.

Children and pet safe paints

Both children and pets are highly sensitive to chemicals, irritants and odours, so using low-VOC paint both indoors and outdoors is much safer for both kids and pets. In fact, you can even safely paint your children’s toys with harmless eco-friendly paint. There are no harmful vapours and no preservatives.

Stay safe while painting

We’ve established that harmful vapours from traditional paints can permeate the air for weeks after application, causing a whole host of possible health issues. What’s just as important is the painting process itself. You need to look after your health while applying the paint and using low-VOC paints is the solution. After all, why constantly breathe in harmful vapours when you don’t have to?

Painting with high-VOC paints will make you dizzy, nauseous and can even cause coughing fits, runny nose and other respiratory problems. The vapour coming off traditional paints can also sting your eyes, making them watery, red and painful. Always choose eco-friendly paints to avoid all this.

Durable and cost-efficient

Eco-friendly paints have improved year after year and these days they are extremely durable. Once you coat your home inside and out with environmentally safe paint, the finished coat will look great for years to come.

This fact also makes eco-friendly paint more cost-effective, as repaints will be few and far between due to the paint’s durability and colour fastness. Less painting also minimises your carbon footprint.

Enjoy a wide range of colours and finishes

Don’t think only traditional paints come in a vast array of colours and finishes. These days, you have just as many choices when it comes to eco-friendly paints. You can mix all eco-friendly paints and colour match them to your specific requirements. Environmentally friendly paints also come in the classics of matte, satin and high gloss.

Environmental sustainability

Not only do eco-friendly paints promote healthier living spaces, they are also an environmentally responsible choice. Traditional paints, particularly during the clean up of brushes, rollers, pots and so on, often found their way into waterways, causing havoc with the health of the water and wildlife. Paint filled with chemicals seeping into the ground also makes it difficult for anything to grow.

By opting for eco-friendly paints, you’re doing your part for the environment around you, helping to preserve the planet, waterways, wildlife, health of the earth and our natural resources. With fewer emissions, eco-friendly paints are biodegradable, making them far more sustainable for environmentally conscious consumers.

Common types of eco-friendly paints

There are already a few varieties of environmentally friendly paints on the Australian market. Here are a few eco-friendly paint alternatives and some information you should know about them.

Non-toxic acrylic paint

Acrylic paints are water-based paints and not oil based. However, some acrylic paints do contain heavy metals, so be sure to check the label first. You’ll want to choose acrylic paint that is as harmless as possible. Acrylic paints are also easy to work with and everything washes up in water.

Milk paint

This type of paint utilises a protein called casein and lime. The great thing about milk paint is it emits zero VOCs into the atmosphere. It’s a top choice for your interior walls and furniture and many use it for restoring timber and colonial furniture.

Plant-based paint

Made from plant-based materials like oils or real crops, plant-based paints are very environmentally friendly. To reduce the production's total carbon impact, some manufacturers even employ recycled materials for the packaging.

Mineral, chalk and clay paint

All of these paints are made from 100% naturally occurring substances. They are the ultimate eco-friendly option. Clay thickens the paint while minerals act as pigments for colouring.

Latex paint (low-VOC)

A more eco-friendly option than oil based paint, latex paint is generally low-VOC and provides a flexible and durable finish.

Paint containing zinc phosphate

When painting the exterior of your home, the paint you’ll use will usually contain more chemicals. This is to help the paint stay on even during harsh weather conditions. Acting as a fungicide and aiding adhesion, paint containing zinc phosphate is an eco-friendly choice. It's much better than its alternative, zinc chromate.

How to choose eco-friendly paints

First up, do some research on eco-friendly paints, brands and manufacturers so you understand what you’re looking for. Search for safety data sheets on company websites and study the materials used in the paint’s manufacture.

You’ll also want to check for third-party certifications and seals, such as from the Green Building Council of Australia and the Good Environmental Choice Australia.

There are literally dozens of brands and varieties of paints on the market in the eco-friendly range, available in every colour and finish you need.