Painting Your Home: Doing It the Green Way
Painting your home is one of the rewarding activities you can do. It will provide a new look for and a fresher ambiance. It is also a good start to provide a new theme for your home. But before you start planning, there are various ways to make it an environment-free activity. It will lessen your carbon footprint and will reduce of exposure to harmful chemicals from the conventional paints and other painting materials.
- Avoid using toxic paint cleaners. Majority of the paint cleaners available in the market contains bleach and ammonia. These are found to be harmful both to the environment and to human health. There are non-toxic paint cleaners you can use. Look for materials which do not contain the mentioned ingredients to keep you and the environment safe.
- Avoid using sand to dry lead paints. This will release toxic particles in the atmosphere. You can use a plastic sheet and a squirt bottle to wet the surface instead. Then you can scrape and sand the surface while they are wet to avoid the release of dust and toxic particles into the air.
- Buy quality painting tools. Look for tools that you can use for a longer period and still provide better outputs. Painting your home can be expensive and most painters opt to choose cheaper tools which can only last for a few days. Choose the tools which they can use during the entire painting jobs and avoid emergency purchases.
- Select a green paint. Conventional paints are cheaper as compared to those green paints. However, a dollar or two differences in your budget can actually save you a lot. Conventional paints and other architectural coatings contain and produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs). You can save by ensuring you and your family will not be exposed to poor indoor quality which can lead to diseases such as asthma, lunch and bronchial infections, and colds and flu. Look for paints with no VOCs and with green or biopaint tags. This will ensure you will have a better indoor air quality with the new paints on your walls.
- Keep left-over paints to a safe box. If there are left-over paints, you can keep for future use. Or you can also dispose them properly in disposal sites. Seal them tight to avoid spills and keep them away from the reach of children.
- Dispose waste water properly. The waste water from paint jobs is toxic so it is suggested to clean brushes and painting tools in a bucket. Don’t let the waste water runoff into your yard. Dispose it properly in the mushroom cap or in the toilet. But keep in mind to clean the toilet right away before someone uses it.
By going green, you are not only being friendly to the environment. You are also ensuring you will not be exposed to harmful particles which can trigger or develop to diseases and health conditions.
Keywords: green paint, VOC, air quality, indoor air quality, air pollution, dust and particulate matter