Chris McCarthy of EarthPaint: Five Strategies Our Company Is Using To Tackle Climate Change & Become More Sustainable
We need to address food waste. About 40% of the food supply in the U.S. is just thrown away. That includes leftovers at a cookout, misshapen veggies and everything in between. Much of that food ends up in landfills, where it releases methane, which is a greenhouse gas that’s even more harmful than carbon dioxide. We need to teach our kids more about why food waste is a big problem and how we can avoid it (like eating our leftovers or buying only what we need). The majority of Americans have never considered how much food they actually waste, and they would be shocked if they did.
As part of my series about companies who are helping to battle climate change, I had the pleasure of interviewing Chris McCarthy, founder of EarthPaint.
When Chris McCarthy founded EarthPaint, a nonprofit recycled paint organization, in 2013, he was looking for a way to introduce more sustainable paint options to the market, while creating a solution for old paint that either sat gathering dust in garages or was destined for the landfill. A longtime paint professional and entrepreneur, Chris began EarthPaint’s special-needs employment program, working with disabled adults who have proven to be reliable and enthusiastic. Since then, EarthPaint has been doing good for the planet and its community, while working to change the paint industry and introduce people to the wonders of high-quality recycled paint.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
As a paint contractor and avid Eco warrior, I simply couldn’t find a product that met my needs when it came to a sustainable product line. Because in the paint world, sustainability is not a thing. Air quality is, but the manufacturing process is not. My research led me to understand that recycled paint was of superior quality but was not readily available. I decided to make it myself.
I fell in love with the whole idea of working with adults with disabilities. I’d had these brief opportunities to work side-by-side with people with disabilities, and I felt like there so was much more to offer them, and so much more they could offer me. So often, disabled individuals are given menial jobs, but they are capable of so much more. That’s why our team at EarthPaint works so hard and gets results. EarthPaint wouldn’t exist without them.
What is the mission of your company? What problems are you aiming to solve?
There are several layers to our mission at EarthPaint. First, we want to provide beautiful, high-quality paint that people will love, no matter what their project is. We do that by collecting people’s unwanted latex paint and turning it into our sustainable product. Second, we provide real employment opportunities to special-needs adults. Third, we work to protect the planet because the paint industry is actually quite dirty.
Lastly, we want to change the paint industry. There’s not enough attention paid to how it degrades the environment. It takes 117 pounds of carbon dioxide to create just one gallon of paint. Not to mention the mining of natural resources that’s required to create the paint you see on store shelves, the emissions from the supply chain and the pollution from people throwing paint in the garbage. Recycled paint is just as good as the name brand paint because it’s made from the name brand paint — and it cuts all that nasty stuff out.
Can you tell our readers about the initiatives that you or your company are taking to address climate change or sustainability? Can you give an example for each?
Well, our company is all about sustainability and doing our part to fight climate change. We are completely on board with being part of the solution.
When you recycle paint, you’re not using raw materials, and the paint industry depends on mining, as I mentioned. In order to get these raw materials to make paint, you need to mine them from the ground, and that is obscenely polluting.
Sustainability boils down to a few things: energy consumption, offsetting carbon and utilizing raw materials. We’re really hitting all three of those things directly on the bullseye. We’re taking a product that can be recycled, and we’re doing all of the right things with every single component of the product. Our process eliminates the need for most raw materials.
We’re also recycling the steel paint containers and the plastic lining inside of them. The steel is very easy to be recycled — the plastic, not so much. So we have a valuable process to reclaim all the polypropylene that goes into these paint cans. That’s a petroleum-based product that if we recycle, we eliminate the need to make half a million on these paint cans.
All this stuff has a trickle-down effect. We’re doing all the right things, and if we can do that better than anybody else, our carbon positive effect is going to be industry leading. I don’t think anyone else in the industry is doing what we’re doing and making an impact like are.
How would you articulate how a business can become more profitable by being more sustainable and more environmentally conscious? Can you share a story or example?
We’ve been trained to get whatever want whenever we want it. It’s the one-click economy, right? But that’s not sustainable in any sense of the word, especially if you’re a small business. A business can be profitable and sustainable at the same time, but it needs the buy-in from consumers, and they need to understand that the one-click, immediate gratification they love isn’t going to be possible for the vast majority of businesses. It’s just not economically viable, not to mention the environmental damage caused by one-off deliveries.
It may not be sexy, but at EarthPaint we try to scale when we can, and that means having large-scale paint collection events and selling our recycled paint product at select retailers where we know customers are looking for quality and affordability that sustainable paint provides. We’re environmentally conscious by our very nature, and we know there’s a market for products like ours.
The youth led climate strikes of September 2019 showed an impressive degree of activism and initiative by young people on behalf of climate change. This was great, and there is still plenty that needs to be done. In your opinion what are 5 things parents should do to inspire the next generation to become engaged in sustainability and the environmental movement? Please give a story or an example for each.
- We need to address food waste. About 40% of the food supply in the U.S. is just thrown away. That includes leftovers at a cookout, misshapen veggies and everything in between. Much of that food ends up in landfills, where it releases methane, which is a greenhouse gas that’s even more harmful than carbon dioxide. We need to teach our kids more about why food waste is a big problem and how we can avoid it (like eating our leftovers or buying only what we need). The majority of Americans have never considered how much food they actually waste, and they would be shocked if they did.
- Teach kids about composting. While we waste a lot of food, we could be doing a lot of good with those leftovers by turning them into compost. You can compost just about anything: veggies, fruits, paper. Just about anything other than meat and greasy pizza boxes. Kids can have fun learning how to compost, whether they live in a house or an apartment. By diverting that food waste from landfills and turning into a nutrient-rich soil additive like compost, we put that food waste to work, helping grow healthy and bountiful gardens.
- Rethink our diets. I’m never going to tell anyone to stop eating meat, but the fact is if we ate more vegetables, we’d be healthier and our planet would be, too. A plant-rich diet can help fight obesity, diabetes and other ailments, while reducing the amount of greenhouse gases that the meat industry is responsible for. Bonus points if your veggies are organic. As a parent myself, I know firsthand how much kids like chicken nuggets and burgers, but we can be creative and help our kids open their minds about what’s possible with food.
- Help kids understand energy consumption. People don’t realize that all the energy we consume on a daily basis adds up, with carbon emissions and cost. The first thing we’ve got to teach our kids is basic responsibility in doing things like turning off the lights when they leave a room or not letting the water run when you brush your teeth. There are little things people can do that they don’t even realize can make an impact when it’s spread across an entire population.
- Teach kids about renewable energy. My 4-year-old son and I read a children’s pop-up book recently that shows how energy is created. It illustrates how coal, nuclear energy and renewables, like solar panels and wind farms, work. Now whenever the wind blows, my son asks if that’s creating energy. It’s a great way to help him understand that the natural things around us give back to us, and we need to increase our investments in that sort of technology immediately. They can be advocates for clean, renewable energy and we need more people talking about the need to adopt the solutions that are right in front of us.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
- Balancing work and family is a skill worth mastering. I started my organization the same year that I had my first child. I had already started companies from scratch and built them up, so it never occurred to me that becoming a new parent and an attentive husband would take up so much of my time, in a great way. We had a second child right about the time my organization was growing into a new facility and it was imperative that it had space to allow me to have my children at work with me as often as possible. Nearly eight years later, I am grateful that I have had more time with my family than most entrepreneurs do because of how much time I’m been required to be on site.
- No one will care as much about your business as you do. I’ve spent many nights awake wondering how I can get more people to care about what we do and support our cause, whether they are customers, volunteers or supporters. It’s hard, but I choose to be an optimist because I know that means they just haven’t heard about us yet. Because once people learn about EarthPaint and what we do, they’re supporters for life.
- Expect equipment to break — all the time. You will find that there are certain pieces of equipment that you will come to rely on, and right when your need it most, it’s going to break. That means we have to be creative and resourceful and expect the unexpected.
- Give your team concise roles. You may have to do it all for a little while, but as your company grows, that may not be possible. Expecting your team to take on all roles and responsibilities is a great way to become disappointed. Find out what each of your team members’ strengths are and define their role so that they can become experts. That way each person knows who to go to when something happens, good or bad. When everyone knows their role, it allows the business to succeed almost on its own.
- Make time to exercise. Building a successful company is stressful and can takes years. Exercising does wonders for the body and mind, but it’s easy to say to make excuses and just keep on working. Doing the work to keep yourself healthy and strong, mentally and physically, will lighten the blows of tough days and keep your energy level high when it’s time to grow your business to the next level.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
About two years ago a marketing agent contacted me about helping share EarthPaint’s story. Since that first email, Alex Parker from Green Collar Communications has been consistent with following up and finding ways to get our story to tell our story to different media outlets while raising our profile among our customer base. No one has been more attentive or more inventive to help us share our mission. Many people have offered short-term help and faded away. Alex continues to find ways to keep us relevant and has provided immense amounts of positive PR.
You are a person of great influence and doing some great things for the world! If you could inspire a movement that would bring the greatest amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Stop buying new paint! People just don’t know about the waste that is created from the mining and manufacturing of new paint. Most people do not realize that there are billions of pounds of paint sitting on shelves in homes all over the world that can be used in place of mining new materials. Planning a few days ahead for your painting project and being satisfied with a color that is 90% close to what you like could eliminate more than one trillion pounds of carbon emissions each year.
And if you do need to buy paint, look for a recycled option. We like to say our sustainable paint is just as good as the name brand paint because it’s made from the name brand paint. You can get the same result with recycled paint as you can with name brand paint, while saving money and doing good for the planet.
Do you have a favorite life lesson quote? Can you tell us how that was relevant to you in your own life?
“Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”- Coach John Wooden
For better or for worse, I give everything I’ve got to my family and my business. We may not be the biggest company out there, but I know that if we give our best, we can be the best at what we do.
What is the best way for people to follow you on social media?
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at EarthPaintorg!
This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
Chris McCarthy of EarthPaint: Five Strategies Our Company Is Using To Tackle Climate Change &… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.