Does your annual Spring Cleaning include painting this year? Whether you’re re-painting a room, adding color to your front door or giving the whole house a new coat of fresh paint, consider the environment when you dive in to the color charts. Traditional paint contains Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) which release low-level toxic emissions for years after application. VOC’s are bad for the Environment and bad for you. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor air is three times more polluted than outdoor air, thanks largely to paints and finishes containing VOC’s. Standard, VOC-containing paints and finishes have been linked to respiratory problems, chemical sensitivities and allergies as well as headaches and eye irritation.

Try painting your walls with Zero VOC or Low VOC paints – you’ll be glad you did! Zero/Low VOC paint is odorless, releases no fumes, and comes in all the same colors as their chemical cousins. For outdoor paint jobs, low or no VOC paint is just as durable and long-lasting as the other stuff, but the low/no VOC paints are water-based, so they’re easier to clean up.

Higher demand for safer paint has also made the prices comparable to the toxic kind and is now easily available at most home-improvement and hardware stores. Low-VOC varieties will be slightly less expensive than the zero-VOC kind, so weigh your priorities before you find yourself waist-deep in color charts. Here are a few widely available varieties of paint to investigate when you’re ready to embark on your next painting journey:

Zero-VOC’s
*The Freshaire Choice (available at Home Depot)

Sherwin Williams Harmony (available at Sherwin Williams)

*ECOtrend (available online)

BioShield (available at retail locations throughout the US and Canada. See website for more info)

Old-Fashioned Milk Paint Company (available online and at retailers listed online)

Low-VOC
*Benjamin Moore AURA (available at Hardware stores. See website for one near you)

*Benjamin Moore Eco-Spec (available at Hardware stores. See website for one near you)

Sherwin Williams Duration Home (available at Sherwin Williams)

* Green Guard certified product. GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (GEI) has established performance based standards to define goods with low chemical and particle emissions for use indoors, primarily building materials, interior furnishings, furniture, cleaning and maintenance products, electronic equipment, and personal care products. The standard establishes certification procedures including test methods, allowable emissions levels, product sample collection and handling, testing type and frequency, and program application processes and acceptance. For more info on certification criteria, read here.