Well, it’s an expression, and in getting to know a little about new types of paint in an ever green-aspiring world, having the wrong paint dry, as the partners at Caribbean Colours in Fish Bay tell me, can be a disaster.
Teaming up with the American brand California Paints, business owners Scott Bryson, Edread Williams and Andy MacDonald inform me that the negatives associated with paint is the very essence of what new eco paints are attempting to eradicate.
“We source products that have other Caribbean markets, so whilst weather is a factor, we are more conscious that the new developer of a resort, home or commercial property is looking for LEEDS and EPA-compliant products for the interior and exterior. In our store, we hope to offer a great retail experience that will be enjoyed by everyone, from that serious contractor getting in and out quickly, all the way to homeowners who want to do the job themselves. We have a relaxed setting with colour magazines, computers and beverages. Our aim is empowering the customers,” said Scott.
Caribbean Colours is also partnered with experienced contractors Tony Bramble as well as Jeana Orasco. Local knowledge is as important as understanding the new technologies available. “We are attempting to create a new experience on several levels for every perspective,” says Scott. “We are introducing architect kits to use paint colors and brands to comply with their parameters as well as using computer technology whereby clients can come to the store with a picture of a property, and we can superimpose products on the images to give a true identity of what a paint scheme will look like before going ahead with it.” The new business is projecting non-VOC (volatile organic compound) paints, whereby harmful toxins are removed that can cause respiratory and eye irritations and instead strive to retain as much non-harmful, organic compounds as possible. “The paint uses microban, a germ fighter which makes it safe in hospitals and other care units, that’s a big plus—it’s a unique antibacterial additive and is found in tons of everyday products, and crucial for a high-moisture environment such as the BVI.”
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Caribbean Colours works with Fibrelock, known in the USA for working on natural disasters. “Having an all-weather, quick-time product was a vital part of our research,” said Scott. “We want to provide a superior product to what has been available, and we are identifying our buyers’ needs as they walk through the door. Price point is key, and the companies we work with pass the reality on in terms of today’s economy.”
VOC paints cause paint fumes, and over the years the industry has been working hard to eradicate harmful effects on labour and the closing of businesses in order for contractors to work. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) was established in 1998 in the USA and has started to become one of the foremost international standards that products and properties set as a goal to achieve. As more and more businesses and properties become compliant to achieve LEED recognition, it is starting to shape industry in the BVI, from the high-end buyer self-regulating for a better environment down to personal choices of businesses to work with products and the contractors who choose to work alongside the decisions to make a healthier environment.
Of course, the choice is still up to the buyer, but let it be said that the products are now available here in the paint industry, and going down to Caribbean Colours and discussing computerized painting with eco products improves the feel-good factor of that initial impression of painting which is often considered one of the more taxing elements of developing or home improvement. In the words of Tom Sawyer, who sold the joy of painting to his peers, “Like it? Well, I don’t see why I ouhghtn’t to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?”
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You can find the guys at Caribbean Colours in Skelton Industrial Park in Fish Bay
