Compostable paints

You may be surprised to learn that most modern paints – even water-based ones – are not as eco-friendly as you’d think. Just because they’re low-VOC, it doesn’t mean they’re good.

The paint you buy can really impact the indoor air quality of your home. Paints contain VOCs (volatile organic compounds) which are present to improve the way paint adheres to a surface, to shorten the drying time, and to help keep your walls looking fresh. But these paints ‘off-gas’ long after the paint has been applied, releasing the VOCs in a product into the air. As VOCs evaporate, they contribute to the formation of greenhouse gases, which we all know has a negative impact on the environment.

But it’s not just the environment that we need to worry about, it is the risks they pose to our health that is of more concern to most. The low-level effects of VOCs include throat, nose and eye irritation, nausea, headaches, dizziness, and vomiting, as well as more severe reactions triggering asthma. 

If a tin of paint states “low VOC”, then it’s still not the best option.

Even the designer brands that are commonly mentioned in home interior magazines, do not have a full range of paints better than low-VOC. And when have you even seen a paint manufacturer proudly list their ingredients on a tin of paint or on their website. So how can you really know what’s contained within?

Edward Bulmer – the company

As Edward himself quotes…. “Our natural paint business has been built from the ground up, making it differently, paint need not be polluting or unsustainable. We can play our small part in leaving a world where our children and grandchildren can thrive in balance with nature.”

The Edward Bulmer Natural Paint collection was born out of Edward’s frustration of not finding the right colours for his clients – he’s been an interior designers for more than 30 years. So he would mix his own colours using traditional materials.

What I love about Edward’s company is that it’s a small business, with innovative ideas about the best way to make bio-based paint, in order to help protect the planet’s biodiversity. They make their paints in a different way to mainstream paint suppliers, using pure and safe natural ingredients of plant and mineral origin.

They even list ALL the ingredients – that’s how transparent they are about their product. Their unique brand of paint is therefore free of greenwashing, and you know EXACTLY what you are putting on your walls.

The manufacturing process is carbon neutral and no toxic waste is products. You can even compost any leftover paint – which you absolutely can’t with modern paints, as they contain acrylic.

But, what is Edward Bulmer paint like? Well, it is 20 times more breathable than most modern paint, and breathability is what you need for lime plaster and old walls. Compared with traditional clay paint, Edward Bulmer paint is more durable.

What makes mainstream modern paint so bad? The vast majority of paint is based on acrylic or vinyl binders, but is presented to us as water-based, and from this we are to deduce that its materials are ‘safe’ as companies never provide a full declaration of the ingredients.

Out of all the everyday products we buy, this is really now quite unusual and is betraying any home owner, painter or designer who is trying to make responsible choices when it comes to the health of the planet, the building and even the occupant.

In essence, it’s the plastic. Currently (2023), there is no legal requirement for companies to inform consumers of microbeads, micro plastics, and nano particles in their products.

If surplus paint is disposed of by dumping it into soil or diluted with water, then the plastic content gets broken down to become microplastics. Microbeads are too small to be filtered out by sewage systems. This means that all the microbeads that wash into drains pass through conventional filtration systems and enter the aquatic environment, eventually ending up in oceans and contributing to the growing problem of plastic pollution. 

Microplastics ingested by marine animals harm their health, even resulting in death – many of them are also fish that end up in the human food chain.

There is no fossil fuel derived plastic in their wall paint. Most modern paint is made from plastic and even contains microbes.

If you’d like to read Edward Bulmer’s ‘Lifting the Lid’ booklet, click here for the online version on Paperturn’s website.

Graphenstone Paints – eco friendly paints for the green generation

Paint with peace of mind that your health, and the ecology of our environment, is protected.

Graphenstone offers interior and exterior eco-friendly paints, comprised entirely of natural ingredients. These unique paints actively purify the air in your space, absorbing CO2*, in the case of the lime ranges. The performance of these coatings rivals regular paint brands, with Class 1 durability. Yet the visual impact of these highly pigmented products is far more beautiful on the walls, with the minerals absorbing and reflecting surrounding colours, in a manner that plastic paints never could achieve.

Graphenstone’s eco-friendly paints contain only trace VOC’s, under 1g per litre, and are free of harmful chemicals, toxins, plastic, microbeads, or any petrochemical ingredients. All their eco paints are vegan, breathable and are made to last, thanks to the addition of graphene, a natural ingredient made from pure carbon, a 21st Century Nobel Prize winning discovery, featuring extreme strength and flexibility.

Contains traditional natural ingredients but with ultra-modern performance. Nature’s healthy minerals such as lime, chalk, clay, silicate and vegetable resins ensure protection for both our precious environment and for your health.

With 96 house colours to chose from, there is a colour for everyone. They also offer a mixing service, if you want a bespoke colour.

Graphenstone’s eco paints are suitable for use at home, in schools, offices, hospitals, nurseries, retirement homes, hotels and any other rooms or exteriors where eco-conscious consumers want to protect their health and the health of our environment.

Not only are Graphenstone  free of harmful chemicals, but they also bring additional health benefits. As an air-purifying paint, Graphenstone improves the air quality indoors, limiting pathogens, preventing mould and fungi growth and other harmful bacteria, that can be so damaging to health, by creating toxic indoor air environments.

Graphenstone helps to keep your environment clean and safe for a better quality of life.