Did you know that every single plastic paint tray that has ever been used still exists on earth? As a serial decorator who loves to constantly repaint the rooms in my home, it makes me ashamed to think of the number of paint trays, dust sheets and paintbrushes I’ve binned in the past. The good news is that there are now some amazing companies offering biodegradable, compostable and green decorating products - enabling us to give our homes a fresh lick of paint without polluting the air with toxic VOCs or significantly contributing to landfill.

I’ve only recently been introduced to the company Eco-Union - an independent brand manufacturing paint trays made from 100% recycled waste material. The Eco Tray is made from leftover sugarcane pulp - an unwanted by-product discarded from the food industry. The sturdy trays don’t require washing (the paint in them can be left to dry out and won’t fleck off onto your roller unlike your standard plastic trays) and they can be reused with new paint later on, or placed on the compost bin when decorating is complete (as long as you’ve used it alongside a compostable eco paint). Of course, it all sounds amazing, but just how much does this sustainable paint tray cost? I was pleasantly surprised to find that retailer Travis Perkins sells the 9” Sugarcane pulp tray for £3.11p each (while a plastic paint tray of the same size costs £3.12p!)

Eco-Union is a family-run business based in Devon that are passionate about producing new products from waste, recycled or sustainable materials. As well as the Eco Tray, they also sell biodegradable dust sheets, recyclable painter’s tape and bamboo handle brushes (that are made in the UK). As previously mentioned, you can buy their products in high street names Travis Perkins and Leyland, or you can find a local retailer via their stocklist page.

So, that’s the decorating tools sorted, but what about the paint you put up on your walls? When I was researching a blog post on eco-paint brands last year, I was horrified to discover that paint and the products that come with painting (brush cleaner, primers, spray paints) are one of the worst environmental offenders and are the second largest contributor of VOC emissions into the air after the motor industry. The good news is that there are other options to toxic, plastic-based paints. The leading green paint brand is Graphenstone (recent winner in the Marie Claire UK Sustainability Awards) who sell a range of paints that actually suck harmful CO2 out of the air, rather than put nasty VOCs (unstable chemicals that release gasses harmful to both people and the environment) in it. And the Norfolk-based brand doesn’t just stop at producing certified eco paint - the production process is completely sustainable and all product packaging is 100% recyclable.

With 96 house colours available and an ever-expanding list of decorating stores stocking Graphenstone (plus a forthcoming collaboration with artist Yinka Ilori on a wall mural on Facebook HQ), expect to be seeing and hearing about the brand a lot more over the next year.

Once you have finished decorating, you may have leftover or excess paint that you do not want taking up space in your loft or garage. With an estimated 55 million litres of waste paint produced in the UK alone, it is important that unwanted paint and the packaging it comes in does not end up in landfill. Paint 360 is a social enterprise who re-engineer waste paint into brand new paint products to be used by trade (they also donate it to worthwhile community projects). Each litre of the paint they supply contains a minimum 65% recycled content and it can be purchased via national retailers Travis Perkins. To recycle your old paint sustainably so that it ends up in the hands of Paint 360 (they are based in the West Midlands, but collect paint from all over the UK), make sure you drop it off at your local House Waste Recycling Centre (a quick Google will locate your nearest one).