Bloc 11 & Diesel Cafe

Painting Diesel is not an easy task. We are open 18 hours out of the day, seven days a week.  There is little “down” time at Diesel, so a task like painting the walls, which seems like it should be easy enough, is a week long ordeal done in the over night hours when everyone is sleeping.  Picking paint colors for me and Tucker was certainly a challenge.  Total, it took us about 4 hours and, in the end, we stuck very close to the original colors, although we had a few people fooled that the red wall was going to be Pepto Bismol pink.  This time painting the store was different for a few reasons.  It was the one of the first times that I did not take on the task of re-painting myself.  The red wall was re-done completely for the first time since we opened.  The store never smelled like paint.

One of the reasons that I love painting is that I actually like the smell of paint.  But, it does make me feel queasy, light-headed, and eventually gives me a headache.  About a year ago, when we got involved with GoGreen Somerville, I learned that there are actually different kinds of paint that are better and worse for the environment.  Most paints on the shelf contain VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds) that are harmful to the environment and dangerous to human beings and animals.  While I was sure that sniffing glue and paint thinners was not a good idea, it had never really occurred to me to a) consider an alternative and b) stop to think why it was not good for the planet and to people.  When we decided that we were going to re-paint, we were reminded by our in-house propainter Cole Johanneck that there was a paint at our local hardware store that was low odor and no VOC paint called Mythic Paint.

In comparing and choosing “green” and “eco-friendly” products, we have learned a couple of things.  First, many of these products are not really “green”.  Take for example Cloroxs’s “green” alternative.  I think the only “green” thing about it is the color on the label.

“Currently, there is no industry standard definition for natural cleaners. To create Green Works™ natural cleaners we set ourselves a very stringent standard. The ingredients must come from renewable resources, be biodegradable and free of petrochemicals. Green Works™ cleaners are at least 99% natural. In certain cases we had to use synthetic ingredients, like the preservative and green colorant. But we’re working hard to develop natural alternatives so the entire line can be 100% natural.”  Does anyone else think that this is really funny, preservatives and green colorant????

Second, we have also learned that in some instances, “green” alternatives are not as effective.  Since I just made fun of Clorox, I will admit that we use chorine-based bleach in our stores for disinfecting and sanitizing purposes.  We have tried oxygen-based bleach and have not had much sucess with it.  Here, customer perception plays a large part in why we chose to go back to chlorine bleach.  The color white symbolizes clean to all of us and having “dirty” looking rags and cutting boards seemed to reflect poorly on our sanitation….Perhaps these are merely excuses, but.

However, every once in a while, we come across products like Mythic paint that really deliver while standing true to their mission.  The paint did not smell at all.  I even stuck my face in it so far that I got green paint on the tip of my nose and could hardly smell a darn thing.  And the paint covered beautifully.

Needless to say, it is a great thing when any product exceeds an expectation and we were very pleased with the results!!!

PS.  Thank you to everyone who helped paint Diesel.  We couldn’t have done it without you.