Everyone longs for paints that last. Homes that look bright, and colours on our walls that don’t fade easily with time. After the initial enthusiasm of selecting colours for our homes, often the tedious part of painting starts. And, various smells pervade our homes. We open the doors and windows, and turn our fans on. We spray room fresheners to get the odour out, and after a while we settle down to the persistent smell of paints, until it slowly fades away with time.
But the ill effects of paints last longer, much longer than the paints on our brushes! Most conventional Paints contain formaldehyde, heavy metals and VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) components which are given out when painting, and lasts nearly up to five years on our walls. Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors. Apart from causing nausea, dizziness, breathing issues and headaches when the painting is on, most of these are also carcinogens that produce long- term ill-effects.
According to a WHO study, regular paint applicators are 40% more susceptible to lung cancer, so you can imagine the plight of home owners who would continue to breathe in such toxicity. If one takes a trip into the manufacture of paints, (an industry which itself is an offshoot from the petrochemical industry), most of the production of oil-based paints use non-sustainable resources and methods. In fact, 1 litre of Paint can even result up to 30 litres of toxic waste! And, this is the trail of unsustainable ecological damage that adorn our walls.
So, what is the alternative?
Water-based eco-friendly paints. Plant-based, water-borne paints are your best buy, followed by plant-based, solvent-borne ones with natural solvents. Do try and avoid those using titanium dioxide.
Water-based eco-friendly paints are not that easy to come by. As a consumer, you would find it hard to find large brands that would stick to making water-based paints. Also, water- based paints involve more processes to manufacture so they also end up being slightly more expensive than the regular paints. But truly, it is a small price to pay for better solutions, your health and ethical living.
If we want to be good to the earth, we need to respect the earth for what it is and purchase products that work with nature, not against it. Products that claim to defy nature can only do so by defying nature.
Apollo Paints is India’s first paint brand with international sensibilities and benchmarks to take a conscious call to keep Earth-friendly, bio-futuristic and ethical principles as our core ethos. It has taken us three proud decades of consistent commitment to ecological sustainable innovation and production to get here. The manufacturing operations are based out of Bengaluru, and the brand has a rapidly growing presence and availability across India.
With a range of water-based, eco-friendly paints, enamels and emulsions Apollo Paints is India’s first company to win the Prestigious Singapore Green Label certification for our products.
What is your experience of using eco paints? Have you heard of us? Do check out our website
www.apollopaintsindia.com for more!
