Pioneering Plant Based Paint

We have long known that a climate crisis is approaching and the only way to avert a crisis is to act. When Edward realised what a dirty business paint making was he sought suppliers of base paints and pigments who would tell him how the paint was made and what it was made from. After a long search, Edward Bulmer Natural Paint teamed up with a German company called AURO. As pioneers in the use of gentle chemistry AURO have been making paint for over 30 years without effecting the environment. Both companies are committed to developing sustainable products which means finding plant-based alternatives to plastic binders, azo dyes and nasty chemicals.

It is exciting to be part of a paint revolution, not only in the way that we sell and deliver paint to our customers, but also by fundamentally changing the way we make paint without depleting the planets resources. It is a much simpler process too!

We are a small company but we have very big ideas about how to make paint differently.  It is not easy or cheap to make good quality natural paint and it has taken years of scientific research and trials to find the perfect combination of raw materials to make a top quality paint which is durable, easy to use and does not cost the earth.

The Edward Bulmer Natural Paint brand is born out of our commitment to the environment and to protect biodiversity. It took Edward a while to realise that modern paint was effectively made from plastic and that microplastics comprised up to 15% of some paints.

We are already beginning to see the effect of plastics in our oceans and it is estimated that over 180,000 tonnes of microplastics from paint end up in our rivers and oceans every year.  This is 6 times more than cosmetics – yet we have banned the use of microplastics in cosmetics?  Now we know these microplastics are entering the food chain and so they are not only destroying nature but will potentially become a health hazard – do you want microplastics for dinner!?

Our base white paint and natural pigments are currently manufactured in Germany and it is only the shipping from Germany that generates any carbon. We are planning to build a factory in the UK which will negate this and our business model is to set up small manufacturing facilities in all our markets. It does not make ecological sense to transport paint around the world to customers, we want to make it close to their doors which will reduce the carbon impact of our brand.

The way AURO make our base paint is fundamentally different.  There is no retort chemistry, no embodied energy, no high temperatures, no barrels of microbeads imported from China, no tankers of shale gas imported from the US, involved in making natural paint.  We take natural raw materials which are responsibly sourced and mixed to create a wonderfully opaque base white coat in which the natural earth and mineral pigments magically sit to bring the paint alive.

We have long known that a climate crisis is approaching and the only way to avert a crisis is to act.  For every litre of modern paint made it is estimated that 30 litres of toxic waste is put into our planet. Annually the paint industry creates over 50,000 tonnes of toxic waste, this is the weight of over 50,000 full grown rhino’s – which is double the current rhino population in the world.

Together with AURO we never work destructively, we work positively being inspired by the world we see around us. We try to reflect the earth’s beauty in all we do and use its resources mindfully. We give back, we never just take. This means that our paints and other products are as environmentally friendly as we can make them, in fact they’re so gentle they’re compostable! But we never sit on our laurels, our team of gentle chemists are always striving to improve and find the next innovation.