The Environmental Benefits Of Natural Paints

So many products that we use in every day life are derived from petro chemicals. Look around you and see how many products include plastic. Even your clothes! But did you notice the paint on the walls? An acrylic emulsion, which is almost certainly what is on your walls, is made from petro chemicals and also contains many other noxious chemicals that are sourced from unsustainable resources.

The use of unsustainable resources has become a huge issue for everyone worldwide. It's resulting in serious natural resource depletion, climate change and biodiversity depletion to name but a few consequences. In order to try and ensure a viable world for our children, it is beholden on us all to try and rely on more sustainable products and materials wherever we can.

Housing is increasingly seen as a major environmental issue. Much attention is being paid to the energy usage of our homes and the contribution that this is making to climate change. But perhaps less attention is being paid to the materials that our homes are made from.

Modern acrylic paints are derived from mineral oil and petro chemicals. Oil, as we all know, is a finite and therefore unsustainable resource. The world also happens to be starting to run rather short of it. Furthermore, these paints off gas poisonous fumes which contribute to low level atmospheric ozone and therefore to global warming.

The sustainable alternative is to use what are termed 'natural' paints…those made from plant oils and plentiful natural minerals rather tan mineral oil and synthetic chemicals.

Not only do these create far less pollution and waste in their manufacture, but many of the by products of manufacture are actually compostable! They also fit in with the natural 'carbon cycle' whereby carbon emitted in the course of production is reabsorbed by the next crop of plants.

And it's not just paint that we rarely think of when considering the sustainability of our homes. Making anything uses energy and resources. The energy component is termed 'embodied energy'. This refers to amount of power required in the various manufacturing processes that result in the final product.

There's a paradox here…we are all realising how important it is to insulate our homes better. And yet the embodied energy in, say, fibreglass insulation is very significant. Whilst it is still outweighed by the energy savings in using insulation in the first place, it is possible to get insulation that works even better and which contains a fraction of the embodied energy…it's natural insulation made from wool or hemp.

This not only insulates as well or better but it has unique properties that cause it to absorb and desorb moisture from the air which help to proactively regulate the air temperature by as much as 6 degrees either way. It's also blessed with an ability to absorb formaldehyde, given off by processed roof timbers, and other airborne pollutants.

To make anything, we inevitably cause pollution and use requires. But given that we can hardly stop making things, we can at least choose to use products which minimise waste and pollution in their production, rather than those which, as is increasingly apparent, are doing so much to harm the world and to jeopardise our children's future.

Nature already offers us the benefits we need, work with her, not against her.

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