Green Home Upgrades

So you won't be building your eco-temple this year. Green your existing abode with these simple, energy-saving—and healthful—options.

With our move-in date one week away and an apartment to paint, I selected the only low-volatile organic compound (VOC) option available at the hardware store on the corner. But when two one-gallon canisters were slammed onto the checkout counter, the "low-VOC" designation was glaringly absent from the labels. "I asked for EcoSpec," I said as the cashier began bagging the cans. "It's basically all the same," an attendant said. When I refused to purchase the paint, he reformulated his approach. "Look," he said, his voice streaked with annoyance, "there is no difference." This clerk didn't know the whole story.

On the Wall . . .

"Federal standards require that VOCs in paint be reduced significantly by 2008, and most companies have started that process," says Monica Gilchrist, center coordinator of the Global Green USA's Green Building Resource Center in Santa Monica, California. "That said, there are much better options." Gilchrist recommends AFM Safecoat's no-VOC paints and the plant-based BioShield for walls as well as the more pricey, less toxic milk paints for painting furniture.

AFM Safecoat paints ($33-$43/gal.; www.afmsafecoat.com, 619-239-0321)

The Old-fashioned Milk Paint Co, Inc. paints ($43.95/gal.; www.milkpaint.com, 866-350-6455)

BioShield paints ($32-$40/gal.; www.bioshieldpaint.com, 800-621-2591)

If you opt for Benjamin Moore's EcoSpec ($26-$33/gal.) or Dunn-Edwards' Ecoshield ($27-$40/gal.)—both low-VOC paints—the area should be well ventilated. And no matter how low the VOC levels, pregnant women should not be painting.

Should old paint always be tested for lead? Gilchrist says yes. Contact the EPA's National Lead Information Center for more information (www.epa.gov, 800-424-LEAD).

Lead paint may be sealed before a new coat is applied. Try Child Guard Paint Encapsulant ($44.95/gal.; www.fiberloc.net). See "Testing for Lead in Peeling Paint," GG #109.