Americans love to paint. Each year they buy an average of 2.3 gallons of paint.
A 2007 Environmental Protection Agency study estimates that about 10% of the house paint purchased annually ends up as leftover or unused. In Oregon and Washington State about 2.322 million gallons of paint is leftover annually.
A study spearheaded by the nonprofit Product Stewardship Institute finds that people will hold their leftover paint for about seven years before they dispose of it through municipal household hazardous waste programs (HHW).
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Metro, which runs a permanent HHW facility in Oregon City and one in Northwest Portland, as well as hosting community collections from March through November, finds that paint represents 69% (by weight) of the HHW collected.
Painting to reduce waste begins before you even lift a paintbrush. Most painting projects are small, sometimes only an accent wall in a room or a shed in the back yard. Before heading to the store for paint, ask family and friends if they have some leftover paint that they are not going to use.
Don’t like the color of their offering? Get creative and mix colors together to get a custom blend. Be sure to keep some for touch-up.
Pass on bringing the paint back to the store to have it re-tinted. Paint that is already tinted may contain the maximum tint that the formula can hold. Adding more tint can make the dry paint fail prematurely.
The biggest problem with asking family and friends for paint is that they are often thrilled to give paint away. Most often it is not suitable.
Keep in mind that paint marked for exterior use is meant for use outside and paint labeled for interior use is to be used inside. Exterior paint formulas can have more volatile organic compounds and higher odor than interior paint. It is formulated for maximum flexibility to expand and contract according to the weather. In contrast, interior paint is formulated with scrub resistance and has little fade resistance.
Consider the sheen of the paint. Flat and eggshell are good for low traffic areas or exterior walls. Satin and semi-gloss can stand up better to dings and scuffs and are also used for trim or kitchen and bathrooms that are scrubbed more often.
Also, say no-thanks to paint that smells bad, is moldy or curdled. This paint is spoiled and needs to go to a household hazardous waste collection site.
Not gifted any suitable paint?
Than ask at stores that sell paint. They may offer mis-tints at a very reduced price. Just because someone else did not like the color does not mean that it will not work for you and your wallet.
If you need lots of paint, consider closing the loop on recycling by buying MetroPaint. Produced since 1992 from the useable latex paint collected through its household hazardous waste program, MetroPaint has had nearly 60,000 satisfied customers.
Jim Quinn, Metro’s household hazardous waste manager said, “The community pretty much understands that they are not to put liquid paint in their trash can or pour it on the ground or down the storm drain. That same community has been slower at making the switch from buying new paint to buying recycled paint.”
In 2007 MetroPaint became the first recycled paint in the world to earn the Green Seal certification. Green Seal, a nonprofit standards-setting organization promoting environmental products and services, used the Master Painters Institute criteria to measure the performance of recycled paint. MetroPaint, which sells one paint for both interior and exterior surfaces, had to perform as well or better than new interior and exterior low sheen paint.
As Metro’s Jim Quinn concludes, “The whole point of recycling is that the recycled product is used, thus saving the energy and natural resources needed to make the new product.”
How Much Paint?
In general one gallon can of latex paint should cover around 300 sq ft. Measure the width of the walls to be painted and multiply this number by the floor-to-ceiling height of the walls.
Divide the wall area to be painted by 300 (the square-foot coverage in each gallon can) to find the number of gallons of paint that you will need. Obviously windows and doors will not be painted, but if you keep their square footage in your calculations, some paint will be leftover for touch up.
This equation yields one coat of paint; double the gallons needed for projects that require two coats. Because dark colors have less titanium dioxide, the hiding power of dark colors could require two coats for good coverage.
How to Handle Leftovers
Everyone wants some paint leftover for touch-up, but few of us ever use it. Even professional painters insist that after a few months UV rays will change the color of most exterior paint and scrubbing will burnish most interior paint making an unnoticeable touch-up impossible.
Still, it’s worth keeping the extra paint on hand. Here are some suggestions.
• To save leftover paint for a future project, cover the opening of the paint can with plastic wrap before closing the lid.
• Next cover the lidded can with an old T-shirt. This will prevent any paint from the rim spattering when lid is tapped on with a mallet. Using a mallet as opposed to a hammer makes an even seal. A hammer puts dents in the lid where air, the enemy of paint, may enter. No mallet? Then place a place a piece of plywood over the can as a spacer between the hammer and the lid.
• When the lid is secure, flip the can and store it upside down in an old dishpan or bucket. This further prevents air from entering the can.
• Write on the can bottom (not the top) where the paint was used, the date, and type of paint, like oil or latex.
• Extreme temperatures cause paint to spoil. Store the paint away from heat and out of the sun. Keep the paint from freezing.
• Damp garages or concrete basement floors will increase the rusting of the paint cans, so put the cans on a shelf.
• Keep the paint away from children and pets.
Finally, keep the paint in its original containers. The sorting procedure at household hazardous waste facilities is so precise that paint collected in cans without labels, or paint that has obviously been consolidated by painters into one container, cannot be used for recycling.
Green Seal certified MetroPaint comes in one-gallon cans priced at $9 and $10, and five-gallon pails priced from $39 to $44. All paint comes with a five-year warranty.
For more information about MetroPaint, please call 503-234-3000 and ask for a free color swatch brochure, or visit www.oregonmetro.gov/paint. The MetroPaint store is located on Swan Island at 4825 N. Basin Ave., Portland, OR.
For information on the safe disposal of leftover paint please call Metro’s Recycling Information line at 503-234-3000, or visit www.oregonmetro.gov/recycling.
Paulette Rossi is a Certified Master Recycler and a freelance writer located in Portland, OR. She can be reached through Northwest Renovation magazine.
