Selecting Healthy and Environmentally Sound Stains
This guide helps you choose the best stains for beautifying and protecting wood surfaces while minimizing environmental and health impacts. More…
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Green Paint & Coatings Advice
Selecting Healthy and Environmentally Sound Clear Wood Finishes
Clear finishes protect wood from wear, moisture, and aging, but they can degrade the environment—in your home and elsewhere. When selecting a clear wood finish, we recommend considering the environmental impact of its manufacture and disposal, its effect on indoor air quality, and its durability. More…
Paint Like a Green Pro
Gabe Luna founded green contractor MoonDance Painting in the San Francisco Bay Area after working for one of the largest residential painting companies in California—and finding the massive waste, improper disposal of toxic materials, and exposure to hazardous chemicals intolerable. Here’s his advice on avoiding the biggest environmental and health pitfalls of painting projects. More…
Buyer’s Guide to Stains
This buyer’s guide summarizes the environmental pros and cons and durability of the three major categories of wood stains: natural oil, acrylic or urethane, and water-based. Use it to find the best stain for your specific project. More…
Buyer’s Guide to Clear Finishes
This buyer’s guide compares and contrasts clear finishes on their environmental and health qualities, and includes selection tips. Use it to find the best clear coating for your specific project. More…
About VOCs
Low- or no-VOC is synonymous with green paints and coatings. According to the EPA, VOCs can cause respiratory, skin, and eye irritation; headaches; nausea; muscle weakness; and more serious ailments and diseases. But what exactly are VOCs, and how can you reduce their impact on your project? More…
Selecting Green Paint
A new coat of paint can make a room feel fresh again, but it often has the opposite effect on the air quality in your home. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), paints, stains, and other architectural coatings produce about 9 percent of the volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from consumer and commercial products, making them the second-largest source of VOC emissions after automobiles. More…
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