Ethically Kate: How to minimise environmental damage when painting the house

Ethically Kate discovers not all house paints are created environmentally equal. Photo / Getty

Q: What are the sustainable house paint options out there? How can I minimise damage to the environment when I paint the house?

A: I recently painted our front door what I call butter chicken orange, but is officially sold as Jester House by The Natural Paint Co. It's bold. It's wild. I am left with zero regrets and bucketsful of sustainable paint knowledge.

The Natural Paint Co. is one of the few sustainable house paints I've found in Aotearoa New Zealand. They're a certified carbon-neutral organisation; their products are made here, plus they're the only paint company in the country to list all ingredients on their labels and product data sheets.

This surprised me as I expected all paint companies would be required to declare everything the product contained - apparently not.

Usually when you paint a house, it's a fume-filled experience and the paint smells a little sickly for several days. That was not the case when we painted our front door. Natural Paint Co. paint is free from nasty chemicals so as well as being better for the planet, I enjoyed a more pleasant painting experience too.

Aside from the paint itself, minimising environmental damage during the process of painting involves considering things like the type of painter's tape you're using (I have yet to find a completely home-compostable masking tape!) and the drop sheets you'll use to protect things you do not intend to paint.

We used old bed sheets, towels, and newspapers to line our front deck and the surrounding walls. The newspaper was composted and the bed sheets and towels were washed and will be used again.

Lastly, the environmental impact of your paint job will be determined by what you do with your leftover paint. And what about the tin?

I used our leftover paint for small DIY projects and will continue to use it up as my urges to paint my home bright orange intensify. When the tin is empty, I will turn it into something handy, like a vase or a plant pot.

It's great to see places like The Natural Paint Co. and Resene implement return systems. Leftover paint can be sent back to these companies, to be passed on to community groups or recycled responsibly.

Whatever you do, don’t dump paint (especially the toxic stuff) in a rubbish bin.