Paint that purifies air

Graphenstone

A Spanish paint manufacturer, improving indoor air pollution

and providing healthy environments.

November 2021 saw the very first Vegan Interior Design Week. This event was hosted by Vegan interior designer, author, and educator Aline Durr.

The milestone event addressed global issues facing the interior design industry, explored sustainability, animal welfare concerns, recent technology breakthroughs, and the growing consumer demand for ethical products, which of course is continuing to revolutionize the interior design industry.

Alongside over 30 specialists, I was fortunate enough to also take part in this event. For my contribution, I shared my experience as a vegan interior design student and the challenges I had faced, no doubt these will also be shared on this blog in time, but for this post, I wanted to bring a paint manufacturer to your attention, Graphenstone. Graphenstone is a Spanish paint manufacturer for ecological solutions.

During vegan interior design week, I was honestly taken aback by the amount of valuable and surprising information. I am starting with Graphenstone, firstly because I want to promote their amazing sustainability credentials, and secondly because in their talk, they highlighted some shocking facts about the paint industry, that I am pretty sure many interior designers and students would not be aware of.

So, what makes Graphenstone so remarkable and what facts do I think you may not be aware of?

First of all, If I asked you to name something associated with microplastics, what would you say?

· Synthetic textiles

· Plastic bottles

· Fishing nets

· Tyres

What about paints? Did you know paints and varnishes are the 2nd highest source of microplastics??

I didn’t.

And I guess I should have, I was focused on no/low VOC’S or no animal testing or animal-derived products and I’d admit the microplastic element was missing. It is a minefield sometimes, but luckily we have experts in the industry who are exploring each element to sustainability, one being Graphenstone.

Just quickly, here are a few large numbers from Graphenstone’s presentation

· 42 billion litres of industrial and domestic paint are applied to surfaces globally each year, with 50% of this paint being plastic!

· 1.5 – 2.25 million tonnes of paint enter the ocean every year, polluting the water and getting eaten by marine life.

And unfortunately, fellow vegans, you are not safe because you don’t eat fish, as

microplastics are also found in tap water, beer, and salt.

So, if microplastics are a huge problem for the paint industry how has Graphenstone created an ecological solution?

Graphenstone decided to be creative and try to revolutionize the painting industry, with the aim of;

· Taking care of people and the planet

· Offering a sustainable product

· An eco-friendly alternative to acrylic and solvent-based paints

· Improve indoor air quality

· And of course, reducing microplastics.

This has been achieved by combining traditional innovation and technology – using natural artisanal lime which is produced in the same way as the mid-nineteenth century combined with Graphene innovation ensuring strength, durability, and flexibility, all free of harmful substances.

Graphenstone-Catalogo-CERT-2021-ENG.pdf

This product also captures CO2 – purifying the air

What else is brilliant about Graphenstone, is that sustainability is truly a part of their entire business model. From re-using their water usage to their recycled packaging. Graphenstone is also cradle to cradle gold certified for some of their product lines.

As interior designers I believe we should all be accountable for the impacts we create, we should all be choosing paints, varnishes, materials, and products that are not only less bad but that could possibly have a positive impact.

For more information about Graphenstone and its collection please head to Graphenstone UK

For access to all the video content from Vegan Interior Design Week please contact Aline Durr Vegan Interior Design | Online Courses | Book