Have you ever considered what’s actually in household paint? that there might be a plant-based-paint alternative? When it comes to decorating, picking the right paint can be a minefield. Not only from a toxic fumes stand point, but also the fact that modern paint is effectively made from plastic and that microplastics make up to 15% of some paints. We are already beginning to see the effect of plastics in our oceans and it is estimated that over 180,000 tonnes of microplastics from paint end up in our rivers and oceans every year.
This is where pioneering plant-based paint company, Edward Bulmer steps in. Edward Bulmer and his team are creating natural paints using plant-based ingredients instead of petrochemical derived products.
Plant-based paint for people and the planet
At Edward Bulmer they manufacture their base white paint and natural pigments in Germany, rather impressively, it is only this shipping from Germany that generates any carbon for the company. To negate this they are planning to build a factory in the UK.
They work with AURO to make the Edward Bulmer base paint in a fundamentally different way to regular paints, there’s no retort chemistry, no embodied energy, no high temperatures, no barrels of microbeads imported from China, no tankers of shale gas imported from the US, involved in making natural paint. They take natural raw materials which are responsibly sourced and mixed to create an opaque base white coat in which the natural earth and mineral pigments magically sit to bring the paint alive.
On a mission to avoid toxic waste
For every litre of modern paint made it is estimated that 30 litres of toxic waste is put into our planet. Annually the paint industry creates over 50,000 tonnes of toxic waste, this is the weight of over 50,000 full grown Rhino’s – which is double the current Rhino population in the world. Edward Bulmer paints are environmentally friendly, in fact they’re even compostable!
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