us
Green Planet Paints® was originally conceived in 1993, by a materials scientist and expert in clays and historic pigments who no longer wants to have her name associated with the brand. (Her story) she originally moved to Patagonia, Arizona. Surrounded by the blazing ochre’s of canyon walls, the electric greens of waterfall mosses, the shifting silvers of high-desert grasses and the multicolored hues of migrating birds, she was inspired to create a paint that not only reflected the beauty around her, but respected it. Combining her expertise in materials science with her knowledge of ancient pigment technologies, she formulated a new kind of paint founded on three principles: beauty, performance, and sustainability.
With the birth of her son in 2000, she states she realized that her paint not only had to be beautiful, sustainable and durable, it had to be safe as well--with no exceptions. She began experimenting with simple, natural recipes for milk paints and clay paints, guided by her friends, who were renowned innovators in natural construction. Over time, she reformulated these simple paints to improve their performance and manufacturability. She incorporated her knowledge of the Mayan pigment technology to create stunning colors, and soon had a rich palette of colors inspired by the natural landscape around her.
By late 2005 Green Planet Paints® became available in various retail outlets. Soon it became clear that in order to reach a broader audience, the paints would have to perform more like conventional latex paints. They would need to be washable and adhere to a wide range of substrates. The solids would need to remain suspended in the can during shipping and storage, and the paint should provide complete coverage in two coats.
She determined a soy alkyd resin offered the most sustainable and high-performing binder, and worked with suppliers to “green” their manufacturing processes until they met her requirements. She co-developing a new base new tint system.
Her philosophy was since prehistoric times, men and women have decorated their sacred places and dwellings with naturally colored materials. At Green Planet Paints®, we are proud to be part of this heritage. The philosophy was simple: paint is a wonderful material. We're putting nature back into paint, and working to make the world a more beautiful place along the way.
In early 2009 she turned much of the distribution of this paint line over to Go Green World Product, LLC in Phoenix AZ. who was much better positioned for distribution of this product. In mid-2009, she was forced to file for bankruptcy and elected to sell all exclusive rights to her trademark and the renaissance premium paint line over to Go Green World Products, LLC; now making Go Green World Products, LLC the sole manufacture and distribution controller of this paint line.
After much research the owner of Go Green World Products, LLC (GGWP) found that there were many issues with the alkyd paint line and many statements that had been made, were incorrect. So GGWP set out to figure out if it were cheaper to reformulate or correct all documentation and re-market the brand. It was determined cheaper in correcting the paint line to match what was being marketed. So GGWP was introduced to and worked with a highly respected and renowned chemist and formulator Mr. Tom Rowls of New Century Coatings, an R&D company specialized in green coating technologies. Mr. Rowls first found out that the smell issue that occurred occasionally was actually attributed to the underlying paints, in that some commercial paints were high in chemical content and due to how paints are engineered; these chemicals were reacting with the alkali in the Alkyd resin. So the issue was how to stop this. . There really was no simple way.
So in 2010, Mr. Rauls helped GGWP correct the many issues with the paint line to lower cost, while also helping to figure out a way to eliminate the reaction issues with some paints. A simple test kit was developed for the average DYI person to test. If the issue existed, the simple fix was to apply a special non-alkyd primer called Agri-Primer which had the highest sustainability of any paint/primer and a bio content of about 40%. The Clay Alkyd paint was also made better, safer, greener and stronger. These changes resulted in the elimination of requiring a special primer to be applied to the surface first. The final result was a better product that did not need a primer anymore unless the substrate had an existing latex or oil paint and there is a fear of the underlying pigments bleeding into the top coat, or as it applies to only the interior paint line, with the old alkyd resin would have reactions with a few industrial contractor grade paint products which contain high solvents, VAE’s and EVA’s. This reaction can cause toxins to exhaust off into a room due to a reaction with an alkyd that would off gas a chemical smell coming from the reaction area. Thus, the Agri-Paint line that did not use an alkyd was developed to prevent this issue from taking place.
In 2016 and a new plant-based alkyd resin was developed which did not contain the same elements of the old alkyd and was much more natural as it uses soap as the alkyd portion. With 100 test sites across the USA, it was determined that the reaction issue was no longer a problem. It was still recommended that a test area be used prior to starting a large project though, if the issue ever arose, the Agri-Primer was still available to be applied prior to the paint for safety reasons.
Note that the Agri-Primer was nothing more than the Agri-Paint. In 2014 it was decided that it was best to just eliminate the separate primer lines since the primer technology was incorporated into the Agri-Paint line already. So, the Green Planet Paints® primer and the old Alkyd Primer were discontinued and no longer offered.
Also, in 2014 GGWP and NCC owners decided to look at a totally new way to make coating products and implementing better plant base technologies and materials. In late 2014 the two successfully developed an all-natural wood stain which was made from plant-based materials. The interesting thing was that the plant-based materials all came from the waste streams of other manufacturing processes. The soy bean oil was the leftovers from vitamin E production, the tree sap was the waste from the lumber industry and later palm oil and coconut oils were added from other manufacturing processes. All these wastes when in the correct combination with other natural materials resulted in a totally natural bio-based stain that acted like the old solvent stain but worked better and were more beneficial than any solvent stain ever could. The stain lines were sold by word of mouth over the next few years, and now are incorporated into the web site for consumer purchases.
This new technology combination spurred an entirely new way of making coatings and over the last few years has been incorporated into the paint line, Sealer line, Craft paint line and more. We extend this technology into the automotive detailing market, granite and stone counter industry and more. Over the 2018 year, GGWP and NCC have made the biggest expansions into multiple other industries using the same basic technologies. These include pest control, mosquito control to replace things like the product OFF, and working on several others. We have even very recently looked at the industrial coating industry and thus far it looks very promising.
2022, it is with sad heart we lost our very good friend and chemist Tom Rauls to cancer early this year. The cancer was caused by the chemicals he used to work with in his early years while working for the major coating companies like SW. He will be and is deeply missed by us, this world and his family!
In addition to all the above, GGWP is still pushing forward to keeping the legacy moving forward as the two owners planed. GGWP now offers Concrete and Wood natural penetrating stains and a Natural clear Sealers; both are in the process of being added to the web site soon. These will be under the name Agri-Stain and Agri-Prep Sealer. Most of these are now offered on the web site and upon request. We are also working on the craft paint line, water color line and many other things as time permits. We are also above the requirements for USDA Bio-preferred and passed the latest C14, C18 and ASMT D6886 testing and exceed all mandates on coatings around the world. GGWP also now offers a new cement micro topping called Agri-Crete Overlayment. This is an Eco friendly semi flexible cement that can be applied to almost anything. Agri-Crete can be stained or colored prior to mixing up the recycled and non-recycled materials. Last, we make our own colorant systems under the name of Agri-Colors and all of these contain no petrochemical materials too.