From the monthly archives: August 2009
Recycling has been on people’s minds for a while now. What to recycle? Does it really even matter? Where do I take paint to recycle? All these questions give consumers real trepidation about recycling. But it doesn’t have to be that difficult. There are many options for recycling in the Houston area. Some products, deemed hazardous to the environment, have special places they must be taken to in order to be recycled or disposed of. Paint just happens to fall into that category, and while it might be tricky, we’re going to try to help you figure out how to recycle it!
While paint can make things infinitely more beautiful, it can leave a nasty carbon footprint behind, polluting landfills for years. Nevermind VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) levels, paint can really damage the earth when not disposed of properly, seeping its waste into the ground and onto our future earth. Hopefully we can shed some light on the problem, though, and inspire you to figure out the best ways to recycle unused paint and keep your remodeling footprint down.
First off, let’s start with the type of paint you should buy for home improvement projects. If you are thinking globally, or just want to do your part, you can buy low or no-VOC paints, which are readily available from many of the big names in paint. This article can hopefully help steer you in the direction of paint brands that might be the best for your projects.
Secondly, let’s talk about alternatives to actually throwing the paint away. One good option might be to ask around your community, inquiring if anyone you know needs some paint to finish a DIY project, a piece of furniture, or an accent wall. This is a cost-effective and community-spirited way to recycle paint! This could include a church, community service organization, high school, theatrical department, or many other locations. Another community driven idea is to try an online classifed site, like Craigslist. People are always looking for a cost-effective way to renovate, and that could be an easy way to get rid of several colors at once. Another option is to find a Hazardous Waste Collection facility, or a hardware store that will collect unwanted paint. A lot of paint recycling programs will mix paints together in order to redistribute the paint to organizations that will use it for projects (i.e. homeless shelters, home building organizations, etc.).
If you cannot find a place to recycle your paint, the best way to dispose of it is to blend it with an absorbent, like kitty litter or sand/dirt, and allow it to dry out (if it is water based paint), then dispose of it, or let it dry out completely before placing it in the trash. This would also work if the paint is moldy or contains rust, as it cannot be recycled then.
Here at Imago Dei, we try to do all that we can in order to keep our carbon footprint as tiny as possible, which is why we recycle our paint . You can read all about our environmental efforts on our website.
Houston has some resourceful organizations throughout the city that will help with paint recycling. Recycled latex paint in theCity of Houston is donated to the graffiti abatement program. Click the City of Houston link or here for information about locations in the city and information about recycling.
Helpful Links:
“It is as good as gold.” From its earliest discovery, to its treasured modern elegance, gold has seduced and dazzled the eye of man. The precious metal has reflected wealth and stature throughout the ages. The art of metal gilding and gold leaf has coated the palaces of empires long ago and continues to decorate the homes of today.
According to the American Society of Gilders, “gilding is the application of thin sheets of beaten metal (usually gold) to a solid surface as a means of decoration.” Throughout its ancient history, gilding has been applied to statues, stone, marble and bronze, to temple walls, vaults and palace ceilings. It has adorned leather, paper and porcelain, intricate wooden frames, and furnishings of all varieties. Even manuscripts, at the dawn of literacy, were decorated with such finery. As methods and techniques have been invented to make the ordinary shine with opulence, the beautiful illusion remains the same today. It lies near the surface.The use of gilding is thought to be at least 5,000 years old, placing the time of origin around the third millennium B.C., in the Mesopotamian region. The furniture and throne rooms of the Egyptian Pharaohs were highly decorated with precious metals. They even had their tombs and sarcophagi adorned with gold leaf. Early evidence is found in hieroglyphic paintings that depict artisans and goldsmiths hammering out gold into thin sheets. Through these techniques, the E
gyptians mastered the art of beating gold in order to prolong its use. They combined the malleable gold with other metals, to strengthen it, to change its color. They began to experiment.
The Greeks continued the progression of gold leafing, improving upon the Egyptian techniques. They employed the golden art to decorate their temples and huge statues erected in honor of their gods. Soon the methods would be handed to the Romans. The first ceiling gold leaf was applied to in Rome was its very Capitol. The famed historian Pliny the Elder recorded the earliest documentation of this gilding. He noted that “luxury advanced on them (Rome) so rapidly that in very little time you might see all, even private and poor people, gild the walls, vaults, and other parts of their dwellings.”
In regards to methodology, the first, primitive techniques of gilding consisted of beating small amounts of gold as thin as possible. These micro thin layers would then be molded and wrapped tightly around an object made from a less expensive material such as metal or wood. No alloying, bonding or chemical processes were involved. Basically, the leafing had to hold itself together, much
like tin foil. This early form of “mechanical gilding” is called “foil gilding.”
Soon improvements in the gilding process were discovered. First, the gold sheets would be overlapped and the edges burnished together. This allowed the gilding to remain intact. As technology and tools advanced in the ancient world, the gold leaf began to get thinner and thinner. Slots were then made in the sides of the surface material, the gold leaf inserted, and then wrapped. Once the leaf was tightly molded, the slots would be hammered shut. Finally, adhesives were discovered. This would ultimately allow for a more substantial support for the thin layer of gold.
Today, the beauty of gold leafing and precious metal gilding is still alive and well. Although new and more advanced ways of gilding present themselves, many of the ancient methods are still practiced. Many a dome, vault, or valued piece of furniture continue to be leafed, revealing a new and golden illumination.
