Do you happen to have half-empty cans of paint in your garden shed? This is a common occurrence with most of us, having purchased a colour that didn’t turn out as expected. Perhaps you ended up painting two full walls in your downstairs lavatory with the colour Mellow Wind before conceding it wasn’t the right choice. So, what to do with this surplus paint?
Don’t dispose of it carelessly.
Getting rid of old paint in the bin or by pouring it down the drain can lead to potential harm. Paint often contains chemicals which may be detrimental to both health and the environment, hence you should dispose of it responsibly.
You can visit MyWaste.ie to find a nearby civic amenity site that will accept paint. Fingal County Council civic amenity sites at Swords and Coolmine, for instance, handle household hazardous waste like paint, thinners, and strippers for a €4 fee.
Make it eco-friendly
If you’ve acquired 15 litres of Elk’s Regret, a colour you now detest (who would have thought grey would be so passé?), make a firm decision. Recycle your paint before it hardens or expires to enhance the possibility of it being reused by someone else. Your spare paint could bring joy to another person, rather than collecting dust in your shed.
Based in the city of Waterford, Renew Enterprises is a social enterprise that prepares surplus and unused paint for another round of use. “Just come in and choose your shades; we can even customise colours per your request,” says Danny Murphy, CEO of Treo Port Lairge, the organisation running this enterprise. Renew Enterprises receives paint from civic amenity centres, tests its quality and readiness for reuse.
“We may not have the exact colour you want, but if you give us a week or a fortnight, we’ll have it ready for you,” assures Murphy.
For just €15, you can purchase a 5-litre bucket of high-quality, recycled paint, saving you nearly €45 compared to new paint.
“The paint we provide appeals to those who are keen on preventing items from ending up in landfill while embracing recycling. Our customers get cost-efficient, trustworthy paint,” explains Murphy.
Their clientele comprises households, primary schools, GAA clubs, and The Probation Service. Murphy adds, “We’re optimistic that the council would consider buying our paint for their properties.”
Renew Enterprises is a member of the Paint Reuse Network, a team of associations striving to curtail paint waste in Ireland. These member bodies accept donations of unutilised paint, or assemble it from civic service locations, preparing it for reuse. This act reduces the need for fresh paint production, prevents quality paint from being discarded, and contributes positively to local neighbourhoods. To find a recycle paint dealer within your surroundings, visit paintreuse.network.
Going for a larger purchase? Oftentimes, the names of different paint colours may evoke thoughts of peaceful meadows, delicate flowers, and pure oceans, yet some paints’ contents are much more detrimental.
For instance, acrylic paint is produced using petrochemicals and contains substances which can be harmful to both humans and our environment. Notably, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are released from solvent-based paints – and in lesser quantities, water-based ones – as cited by the Healthy Materials Lab, a Parsons School of Design research facility committed to eco-friendly design.
Alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs), an ingredient in acrylic paint, are suspected endocrine disruptors that can provoke hormonal imbalance in people, animals, and marine life, as per the Healthy Materials Lab. In addition, acrylic paints add to the ample volume of microplastics that find their way into global water bodies and have been discovered in human blood and breastmilk.
When shopping for paint, pay attention to the VOC label – a globe icon that denotes the range of VOCs discharged, from minimal to extremely high. The European Ecolabel flower certification is a trustworthy mark of low VOC levels.
Opting for paints produced from minerals as opposed to fossil fuels is a wiser decision. Some of them even draw in impurities from the atmosphere, thereby enhancing indoor air quality. Utilising an online paint calculator can help circumvent over-purchase. If you have leftover paint, seal it tightly with a mallet, and label it with the date of opening, colour, brand, and intended room.