With the season of open windows and good ventilation, many of you might be considering putting a fresh coat of paint onto a wall or two inside your home. Well, before you head out to Home Depot to pick your colors, why not consider greener alternatives to traditional paints. By choosing paints made from minerals, beeswax, plant oils or milk, you eliminate just one more toxic substance from your home.
Milk paints go back to Colonial times and actually do contain milk, along with lime and natural pigments. These are good when you'll aiming for a textured look, as the brush marks will remain.
You can get similar results without the milk by using a whitewash. The lime and water combo gets its tint from natural pigments. Click here for a recipe for homemade eco-friendly whitewash.
Both milk paints and whitewash can be used outdoors as well.
Another natural texturing idea is tinted plaster made from natural clays. Make sure you use a primer if you decide to use plaster on new drywall or any surfaces that are already painted.
Natural clay paints are another good alternative and work well on most surfaces.
For a list of non-toxic earth-friendly paints, check out eartheasy.com.
There are so many choices out there, and granted, some are more expensive than traditional paints you can pick up at your local hardware store. But in the long run, isn't your family's health worth it? You never know how many doctors' visits you may avoid by limiting the amount of toxins you invite into your home. Just saying....
Keeping it green,
Hana
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