The Quest for Gaia by Kit Pedler

Author:Kit Pedler [Kit Pedler]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780285641259
Publisher: Souvenir Press
Published: 2012-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Another way of illustrating a Gaian approach to shelter is to compare methods of decoration.

Most houses have some white walls and some colours, and the easiest way of whitening or colouring a wall is to use a tin of white emulsion paint. But emulsion is made by a high-energy process from very complicated and often toxic oil-based chemicals. It carries an equally high entropic debt whether it is white or coloured. Whitewash on the other hand can be made from lime, salt, rice flour, Spanish whiting, glue and water. Whitewash is cheaper than emulsion, and since its constituents are organic or mineral, and it is made simply by stirring and mixing, its entropic debt is far lower than that of emulsion.

The emulsion is sold on its seductive surface, and durability. It can be washed. But the durability of a paint, white in particular, is really to do with how dirty it gets and how strong the underlying surface is. In ordinary household circumstances, whitewash lasts at least as long as its emulsion equivalent particularly on ceilings. It smells nice too.

The brightest and most vibrant colours can be obtained from textiles coloured with vegetable dyes. So there is every reason why a house designed to have a low entropy index could be a feast of beautiful colours and textures as well. It would be far cheaper as well to ornament one’s walls in this way, rather than spend money on expensive, super-cover, non-drip lustre-finish plastic emulsions called ‘Avocado’, ‘Mocha’ or ‘Blueberry’. Such paints should be labelled as unfit for human consumption.

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