Parental intervention

Introducing my family to environmental practices is endlessly entertaining and educational. I like to think of us as a typical Cincinnati family: multiplying like crazy, attending church festivals all summer, living within 40 minutes travel of our parents, involved in our communities, and talking to one sister so that a third sister gets your message (and don’t we all know, many native Cincinnatians stay here because their families are here?). I consider my family the litmus test for the area. If what I propose works for them, then it should work for every other average local person who is interested in making a positive difference without doing anything too radical.

Through my familial interactions in the last month alone I’ve learned that there is no recycling offered in one sister’s neighborhood in Sharonville, there is a green wedding on Days of Our Lives this week, using environmentally friendly diapers is not currently feasible when you have 3 kids under age 2, it’s difficult to condition guests at a cookout to separate their recyclable beer and soda containers from their garbage, and your living room will get really hot if you have a dark colored front door when your house in Fairfield is south-facing.

When I have a moment off the phone or away from a family birthday, I will solve all of their quandaries, but for the moment I am focused on convincing my dad to go green with the fence-painting planned for his day off tomorrow.

The white-picket wooden fence around my parents’ NCH back yard (no joke, they’re just that cute and traditional) needs a makeover. My dad called this evening wondering what he should consider environmentally when re-painting the fence (seriously, they’re just that supportive of whatever their kids believe in).

I did a quick internet search and made an inquiring phone call and found out that what I would hope he could do is actually quite attainable in their neighborhood. In painting projects, choosing low-VOC paints is the best bet for the environment. VOC stands for volatile organic compounds, which are a type of pollutants that can negatively affect the atmosphere. The VOCs are often the cause of the overwhelming paint smell you experience as well. Choosing low or no-VOC paints will minimize the smell and harmful offgassing effects of paint both inside your home and outdoors.

I also learned in my questioning of the knowledgeable Sherwin Williams rep that creating color requires VOCs so although you can get no-VOC primer, colored paint only comes in low-VOC and the amount of VOCs in the paint depend on the depth of the color. Who knew?

You won’t yet find low-VOC paint offerings in any old hardware store, but they are available at both Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore paint sellers.
Low-VOC paint may cost you a few dollars more than standard paint, but as the demand for it grows - so does the availability and the attractive price points. Start asking for it at your regular paint provider and you’ll be helping the change.

The good news for my dad is that there is a Sherwin Williams store located nearer to his home than the closest Home Depot or Lowes so he will even be able to save gas and travel emissions while supporting a neighborhood store. Now if he can just trick the neighborhood kids into thinking that fence painting is a game…