Posts Tagged ‘VOCs’

Clean Paint and Products for a Clean Environment

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

We’re passionate about eco-friendly painting and today, Blog Action Day, seems the perfect day to talk about the difference we can make. Around the globe today, bloggers will be talking about climate change and all of our roles in finding solutions.

We talked about low-VOC and no-VOC products recently (see our post, What the Heck are VOC’s), and we’ll be talking more in the future. But today, I just want to drop in and mention a couple of things painting crews can do to help keep our environment clean.

Eco-friendly Painting Practices

We call these eco-friendly painting practices (Read more about them on our website), and they help to reduce our footprint as we paint, stain, and cover surfaces of every type. They are:

  • Use recycled paint whenever possible
  • Use eco-friendly painting products whenever possible
  • Reuse on-the-job materials such as canvas drop cloths, buckets, rollers and brushes
  • Clean up with a minimum of water usage
  • Reduce paper usage (Use email and electronic databases)
  • Use a GPS (Global Positioning System) to ensure all drivers travel efficiently to and from sites
  • Solar power! – Our webhost is solar-powered

We’re doing what we can, and we plan to do more and more in the future. Painting can be a no-fumes, eco-friendly experience – a small part we can play in helping to clean up our planet.

Contributed by John Allen, owner of Carvél Painting.
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Carvél Painting ~ Beauty That Endures
Serving Reno and Tahoe areas with Residential and Commercial Painting Services
877.685.3382

VOC / VOC’s

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

Our clients ask: “What the heck are VOC’s?”

VOC’s are definitely something you should know about before you hire a painting professional or begin a painting project yourself.

In short, VOC’s are Volatile Organic Compounds that vaporize and enter the air we breathe. In paint, these are typically formaldehyde, benzene, diethyl phthalate and dibutyl. They can also be lead, cadmium and chromium.

Reactions to VOC Exposure

Typical short-term reactions to VOC exposure can include allergic symptoms such as headache and nausea. Long-term exposure to VOCs has been correlated to more serious health challenges such as liver and kidney cancer.

So be careful, read the labels on paint cans, and don’t hesitate to contact us here for any of your painting questions.

Contributed by John Allen, owner of Carvél Painting.
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Carvél Painting ~ Beauty That Endures
Serving Reno and Tahoe areas with Residential and Commercial Painting Services
877.685.3382