A new product from Lexington-based DecoArt is offering artists a sustainable alternative when it comes to craft paint.
The product, DecoEARTH, is an all-purpose acrylic paint made from reclaimed paint that would have otherwise been destined for landfills. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, nearly 75 million gallons of paint are wasted each year. To produce DecoEARTH, acrylic paint is collected from centers all over the country and then processed and sorted by similar colors. Once processed, the paint is sent to DecoArt’s manufacturing facility in Stanford, Kentucky, where materials and tints are added to create craft paint up to DecoArt’s quality and color specifications.
“The core of our company is the makers who use our products to create art and make the world a brighter, more beautiful place,” said Tom Schaub, DecoArt’s vice president of business development. “We launched DecoEARTH to give our customers a product with low environmental impact while retaining the same high quality our makers expect from DecoArt. We are committed to ‘crafting a better world’ every day. Contributing to a sustainable future and preserving the environment is a significant part of that philosophy.”
Schaub, who has worked in marketing and product development with DecoArt for more than 30 years, said the paint has been something the company has been working on for at least a decade. “I’ve been focused on trying to find some kind of recycled or more environmentally friendly product that we could bring to the market in our category,” Schaub said. “We looked at different things over the years and nothing was really producing the kind of quality that we wanted.”
DecoArt decided to partner with a company in California that captures household paints and recycles it. DecoArt receives seven base colors, from which it creates paints in 27 colors. “We get them into spec and tint them to an exact color,” Schaub said. “Because we’re dealing with reclaimed paint, it takes a little more effort to get those bases into spec. We want somebody to be able to buy a jar of paint today and be able to buy it again two years from now and for it to have the exact same coloration and consistency.”
So far, responses from artists have been positive. “It has this great sustainability story, but it’s also a super-premium paint,” Schaub said. Artists who’ve tried it “absolutely love it for the quality.” The product was driven by consumer demand, he said. “When we were looking at the marketplace, we noticed that with the younger demographics, it is important to them to have companies that are focused on sustainability and recycled content,” Schaub said.
Available online, the craft paint is sold in sets of eight two-ounce bottles packaged in themes ranging from “Modern Boho” to “Farm to Table” and “Basic Brights.” The cost is $15 per set. The full line of all 27 colors is also available, and customers can also purchase eight-ounce bottles of a specific color. Comprising 70 percent recycled materials and with a matte finish, the water-based paint provides smooth coverage that adheres to a number of surfaces, with easy cleanup. Additionally, the paints are packaged in recycled plastic bottles.
Schaub said one of the biggest challenges was getting the paint from the collection company to Kentucky. “California is about as far away from Kentucky as you can get,” he said. “We’re looking at ways to mitigate those costs. This was a little more challenging [product] for us because there were so many unknowns with the different types of paint coming together to make one batch.”
And the company has no plans to move from Kentucky. “We’re proud to be a Kentucky company,” Schaub said. “We have no intention of moving the operation out of Kentucky because we have a great workforce here and really like the business climate here.”
Schaub said the next step is to create larger product sizes and to focus on the education market, including offering DecoEARTH paint in 64- and 128-ounce sizes. “We know from our research and talking to a lot of administrators and teachers that sustainability is an important thing they’re addressing across the board in school systems,” he said.
What’s next? The company is also working on vegan and cruelty-free paint brushes made with synthetic fibers, bamboo handles, and animal-free glue products. “They’re really nice, lightweight and comfortable to use,” he said. “From the testing that we’ve had with artists and their reviews, they absolutely love them. They’re really a nice quality brush at a really affordable price.”