Non-toxic paint? or recycled paint? Which one?

Suppose you are working on a project which the owner hopes will qualify for some sort of LEED rating. Or maybe the owner just wants as green a project as is reasonable.

Which is higher priority? non-toxic such as Mythic Paint? Or recycled such as Metro Paint?

Good problem that we have such choices and ideally we'll soon have a paint with both characteristics.

Comments

[Tom Rioux]

LEED gives more points for regionally manufactured products as well as low voc. So a local non toxic paint company would get you the most points. Forget recycled paint. Let it safely decompose in a landfill.

What is the definition of "green" paint?
To me it should be a paint that is not going to kill or aid in the poisoning of my family or the planet. Vinyl is poison. In my opinion recycled paint is usually poison. It's a mish mash of the worst, relabeled.

No Voc does not mean No Poison! Not even close. Paint is full of additives, these additives are usually full of poison and there are many added to paint that never get listed since the usage level is below 2%. Yes, even some non toxic paint companies add these.

The additives must be accounted for as well as the solvents and resins in order for a paint to earn the label of being green. The low voc vinyl or acrylic copolymer code words are just more of the same paint in a different label.

Why are copolymers bad? Copolymer means two resins were used. If it were flax oil and milk paint that would be fine but that's not usually the case. It's usually vinyl with a dash of acrylic just for the name.

My wife likes to paint every month. She'd change colors with the moon cycles if it were up to her. The cheap vinyl and copolymer based paints make this possible. But isn't this wasteful? When good ingredients are used the paint is more expensive. This expense makes it more precious and less likely to be changed so frequently. This isn't something my wife wants to hear but it is the right thing to do.

I support the responsible production of everything made in this country. Enough cheap plastic poison!

[Maria]

I am all for both, non-toxic AND recycled paint. I feel that I got both of these by painting with YOLO Colorhouse. The paint is non-toxic and the cans are made of recycled plastic!