Photo Credit: Flickr/massdistraction
My mother just bought a new (well, new to her) condo and of course, making plans for how to spruce it up a bit before she moves in. I mentioned to her in passing that I would love it if she would use no-VOC paints. And since mom isn’t as familiar with eco-products or the term VOC, I offered to assist her in this endeavor.
Mom let me take her on the journey to EcoHaus, also known as the Environmental Home Center or Green Depot, located just south of Downtown Seattle. I call it a journey because it was about a forty-five minute drive to get there from her new space. I didn’t think she would want to travel so far for paint, especially considering that there was a Home Depot about five minutes away*. But she humored me, and I drove.
I was very surprised (and overjoyed!) to see how open my mother was to all of the green options available, not just for paint but for all of the projects she wants to do at her new home. As we looked over the products available I was able to share with her how each product was better for the environment than its conventional counterpart. She is now considering new countertops made from repurposed or recycled product! But I am sad to report that the flooring choices were not to her liking and she will be looking for a more conventional area rug elsewhere. That’s okay, you can’t win ‘em all!
Back to the paint though. We settled on a few very neutral colors from the Yolo Colorhouse palate. The great thing about the Yolo colors is you don’t have to have a degree in interior design to decide which colors complement each other. Whether you are painting one room or several, any of the colors you choose have a high likelihood of working well together.
And you won’t be exposing yourself to all of the harsh chemicals that are typically found in conventional paints. With no-VOC paints, you will hardly smell a thing. I’m not sure that this was anything that my mother had thought of before. She just assumed that when you paint, you open all the windows and stay the night at a friend’s house.
Mom was also quite impressed that the price was comparable to conventional paints. There’s no more knockin’ the green alternative because of price; that is no longer a valid argument. The Yolo paints appear to be about $5.00 to $10.00 less per gallon than the good quality conventional paints at Home Depot.
If you have an Ecohaus or a Green Depot near you, stop in and take a stroll to see what’s new. But also consider taking your less-than-green friends and family. Looking at all of the green and eco-friendly products is a great opportunity to talk about your sustainable values and gently convince others to give green a try.
*Funny side note – perusing the Home Depot website, I noticed that they just started selling Yolo Colorhouse paints. Good news for mom when she needs to pick up another gallon of ‘Leaf #4’ to finish the project. And good for Home Depot for offering a greener choice!
Eco Home Consultations provides green living consultation services in the Seattle area, focusing on practical ways to integrate green living into your household. Learn more at www.ecohomeconsults.com or email questions about this blog or other green living issues to Melissa@ecohomeconsults.com.
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