[Earth Day Edition] Buying Recycled Paint

The paint.

On the last painting project The Brown’s undertook we decided not to buy paint the conventional way, at a big box store. That combined with wanting to buy sustainable paint--we chose to go to the Habitat for Humanity Omaha ReStore.

There are 825 Habitat ReStores in the U.S. and Canada. These Habitat ReStores provide a socially and environmentally responsible way to keep good, reusable materials out of landfills.

Brian and I were very aware of what this store Humanity Omaha Restore had to offer; since, we’d been there before and helped with a life-long friend bring this very store to fruition. Read about our volunteering effort here.

At Habitat’s ReStore, our first choice is Amazon Paint, which is repurposed paint. This is rescued paint from government, stores, construction and consumers. Amazon’s goal since 1992 has been to repurpose and reprocess paint. It's good paint. In fact, the paint is inspected through a processing and filtering system.

A Burnt Corral wall at The Browns.

On our visit to the West Maple Habitat ReStore, we didn’t see any Amazon paint in our color choice. So, we investigated further and there it was--a five-gallon bucket that spoke to me. It was Sophir Morris paint, which we’d later call “Burnt Corral.” Why? Because it reminded me of the very first corral Brian & I ever saw while scuba diving in Jamaica.

We paid $35 for a five-gallon bucket (shown above). I thank whomever donated this paint to the ReStore! Because each and every day we see our walls we are reminded of our scuba adventures in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Have a painting project in mind? If so, consider buying paint from a Habitat for Humanity ReStore.

Indeed, in the end when I look at my burnt corral walls these words echo in my head, “home improvement never felt so good...because it's repurposed paint!”


In celebration of the 44th anniversary of Earth Day population-we™ staffers will celebrate our love for planet earth with green posts the entire month of April! Thanks for reading our first Earth Day post. 

- population-we™ blog post by Becky Bohan Brown 

© 2014 population-we, LLC

If you enjoyed this post, make sure to leave a comment, 'Pin' or 'Like' it.

Pin It