Asheville has its own green paint company, Earthpaint, Inc. No, they don’t just make green paint. They develop and manufacture nontoxic, biodegradable paints, wood finishes, sealers and plasters. They’re designed to be beautiful, strong AND healthier for you and the earth!

The founder of Earthpaint, Tom Rioux, worked with paints and plasters for many years and realized they were making him really sick. Did you know that most  paints and finishes used in homes and workplaces are actually poisonous? Some of us are more sensitive to them than others, but whether they give you a headache, make you really sick, or not, exposure to them is more serious than just a bad smell.

I remember when my brother was a painter many years ago and on one paint job he actually began to hallucinate and nearly fell off his ladder. He was in a relatively enclosed area, which is a definite problem. But if you’re painting the interior of your home, just how long do you leave the windows open?

What Tom Rioux decided to do was, “to see if it was actually possible to make the professional-grade paints that I was used to, without the poisons that made me sick.” Tom, who lives in , West Asheville, last year’s number one rated Eco-Community (Natural Home magazine), put together a team of environmental scientists, chemists, microbiologists, toxicologists, painting professionals, designers, and others and they have come up with an incredible line of nontoxic products. “We are making nontoxic products that are at least as good as – and often much better – than conventionally made alternatives,” Tom says.

Earthpaint does more than just paint. They manufacture natural plasters, all kinds of finishes and sealers. They are also a very environmentally responsible company. They are concerned with production methods and the impact of their products. They support wind power, recycle wastewater, pay fair wages, price competitively, use native ingredients from local sources and don’t use anything that has to be shipped from overseas.

You can order their products online at www.earthpaint.net. If you live in the Asheville area, you can find their products at Build It Naturally, 76 Biltmore Ave. (828-254-2668, www.builditnaturally.com) and Nest Organics, 51 N. Lexington Ave. (828-258-1901, www.nestorganics.com); at Shelter Ecology Inc., 42 Pine Ridge Rd., Asheville (828-225-2829, www.shelterecology.com) and at The Healthy House, 15 Design Ave., Fletcher (828-684-6565).

Tell them you heard about Earthpaint on Patreecia’s blog!