Toxins and VOC's are Everywhere

More incredible toxic news.  I found this in The Green Book. "You can avoid harmful toxins, air-polluting chemicals, and petroleum solvents by purchasing varnishes, stains, and finishes that contain low or no volatile organic compounds (VOC'S).  VOC' are main contributors to smog, and the amount saved by choosing a few gallons of low-VOC coating is roughly the amount of VOC you'd save if you avoided driving your car for an entire year.  If half of all wood flooring installed per year were coated with low-VOC products, the effect would be equivalent to eliminating the annual VOC emissions from nearly two hundred thousand cars."

ESF Shows Messy Art Can Be Fun and Safe

Picked up by our local paper, the class I have been teaching at First 5 in Moorpark, Ca. shows just how safe and creative we are and how expressive our children can be. All parents should worry about toxins entering the bodies of their children. ESF has made sure that this should not be a worry for parents, children or artists who use our products. Here is the link to the online newspaper article, http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/jul/21/kids-get-messy-in-moorpark-art-class/. We are really excited that we can be recognized for such an accomplishment. VOC's, lead, heavy metals, BPA's are everywhere. We have taken the time and research to rid the entire paint line of these. And made in the USA is a true bonus.

The messiest of art and the safest for children.

Toxins in Our Bodies

The media's recent major focus on sunscreen and how it fails to do what it claims to do and the resulting effect of these toxins going into the skin of an individual to be absorbed into the blood stream and then into the organs of the body make a great point for anything that touches our skin and is then absorbed into the body. We at Earth Safe Finishes have been hammering on this point for some time...attempting to explain the potential dangers of companies who claim to have 'non toxic' products but do not have the proof to back them up. The following article by Seth Godin brings home the point of materialism and profit vs. what is ultimately best for the consumer/individual. It is important to remember that there are good and great companies fighting for the individual, ethical companies that are doing just that...fighting for the right thing to do....we hope you believe that we are one of them.

The ethics of sunscreen
Here's a perfect test case for thinking about consumer marketing and ethics. (I'm more interested in the structure of the problem than I am in sunscreen in particular). The question is: should a company do whatever it can to make a short-term profit, or should it work to do the right thing?
Sunscreen has no purpose other than to avoid both a burn and skin cancer. It doesn't bring social status, the joy of application or any placebo benefits with it. It either delivers a medical benefit or it doesn't.
For a decade, sunscreen marketers have been arguing with the FDA about labeling and formulation rules. Largely, they've been pushing for less regulation, particularly in labeling. While this is going on, more than 80,000 people have died of skin cancer in the US.
There are plenty of ways to rationalize false marketing claims (hey, at least they'll use something...) but it's pretty clear that marketers have done little to educate the public about what's going on (did you know that 95% of the radiation that hits us is cancer-causing and skin-aging UVA, the kind that SPF has no relevance to?)
New regulations were recently announced, though it's not surprising that many think the regs were watered down as a result of lobbying.
It turns out that in the US, sunscreens have been extraordinarily over-hyped, with variations being called 'waterproof, 'full spectrum' and 'effective' without being any of these. You need to use a lot more, and a lot more often, than the labels currently indicate. Marketers would prefer a magic bullet, as it's easier to sell, but sunscreen doesn't work that way. It's not easy to make an effective sunscreen, and so competitors with lesser products have hyped them with false or irrelevant claims. (SPF 120 anyone?)
Here are the two questions that occur to me:
How can consumers look at this example and not believe that the regulation of marketing claims is the only way to insulate consumers from short-term selfish marketers in search of market share, marketers who will shade the truth, even if it kills some customers?
and
Why aren't ethical marketers (of any product) eager to have clear and well-defined regulations, creating a set of honest definitions so that they can actually do what they set out to do--make a difference and make a living at the same time? If you're busy competing against people willing to cut corners, I'd think you'd want the rules to be really aggressive, clear and obvious.

Make Art a Safe Journey

As parents and grandparents do we wonder about the quality and safety of the paint and paint products that our children are using? Our children have an unbelievable amount of creativity within each one of them. Allowing this creativity to flow out and manifest itself on paper or canvas or wood or whatever medium that child shows interest in is a gift we can give them. But....is that paint that the child is painting with, inhaling and putting on their skin to be absorbed into the body.....is that safe, VOC free paint, toxin free paint? Earth Safe Finishes makes this kind of paint...we are here to help the health and safety of adults all the way down to children...our future. Think about what we are allowing these children to use, where it is made and who do we trust. Make ART a safe journey.

We Are Right on Track

National Art Materials Trade Association (NAMTA) just concluded its 2011 convention in Phoenix on Friday. We were there, our first booth at this show. WOW! It was an amazing experience. The feeling that all of us in the booth got from the attendees at this show is that Earth Safe Finishes is getting the attention it deserves. Comments included, "no smell from an epoxy,how is that possible?", "small concentrated containers that you can add water to to make color, genius", "how perfect for schools and government". These people "get it". We saw artists demonstrating products wearing respirators....do you think they gave them to the people walking down the aisles?? And here we are, clean, pure, toxin free and so easy to use. I am so proud to be affiliated with ESF...try it, I guarantee you will like it!!!

We are excited to show you our new video on Earthsafe Finishes products. Sit back and enjoy!

Softball Season

Lucky us in California.  Spring is here already.  We are really very fortunate in many ways.  So, in the mode of repurposing and recycling basically anything and everything that we encounter Jessica has taken on the softball helmet.  It was old and chipped but still fits.  How about airbrushing, she says.  Never tried it with ESF products, so a challenge.  Below is the helmut basecoated with Perfect Paint, Carbolize Violet Colorant added in.  Then airbrushed with a mixture of Sealer and Colorant.  She used white Colorant to to give some opacity.  And finally topcoated with Eco Epoxy with glitter added to it.....a new helmut.....fit for a dynamite princess player.  Safe, toxin free, non chipping, no VOC's, easy cleanup.

 The airbrush experiment was a total success.  I bet this helmut will bring many home runs!!!!!