Adventures with Natural Paint - episode 1

It's time to paint that room that hasn't been decorated for some 15 or more years! OK i don't expect this to be much different to using petro-chemical paint (Dulux, Crown, Wicks etc.) apart from the cost maybe. As you can see from the photo, NaturePaint emulsion comes in a paper packet as a powder, rather than a plastic pot as a liquid.

I ordered it by post and it arrived by postman in a snuggly fitting cardboard box. Apparently it is the only paint that can actually go by normal mail, since it is not made of hazardous materials. All the packaging can be recycled in the normal recycling waste, in fact NaturePaint claim that even the left over paint can be composted or put in the normal waste stream.

I bought enough to paint a room with a lot of windows/glass, the pack should make up about 2.5 litres of paint. You make this stuff up in a bucket and mix it with warm water. That is yet to come as i have yet to buy a mixing thing for my drill!

The adventure continues...

NaturePaint

The view from Hambledon Parade, May 2008

Having put up a wood fence, Wimpey's West of Waterlooville MDA contractors decided to rip half of it down again and instead put up a standard building site metal fence. Note the lovely trees in the distance, they are still standing, lets hope they are still there in a few years. The big native British trees are homes for hundreds of insect species. Typically Oak is home to some 420 species, Birch to some 330, Elm 120, Beech 90 etc.

Recently the London Zoological Society pointed out that 30% of species across the world had been made extinct by human activity since the 1970s and the rate was continuing at 1% per year.

Added: (19/05/08) Natural England today published its first report about English wildlife. The conclusion being similar to the Zoological Society, English species are in danger due to climate change and developing land for human use.

ZSL biodiversity report
Natural England - State of the Natural Environment