We’ve Gone Green

“What do you do with all the leftover paint and garbage from your jobs?”

That’s the question Erik is often posed on the job. The answer: Viking Coatings recycles everything. They are a company that has always been conscious about making sure they separate all materials that can be recycled, and recycling everything so that they can to do their part for the environment.

Erik has discussed the issue of recycling with a number of other painting contractors, and frankly, he’s surprised at how many fellow tradesmen do not think about recycling. Most of them just throw everything in a dumpster and never give a second thought to the effects of that bag of garbage they just threw away.

The following are the steps Erik and his team are taking to make their (and subsequently your) impact on the environment as low as possible:

  • Paper and tape: Paper and tape is collected, separated and placed in specified bins for weekly pickup.
  • Plastic: Plastic is also separated and placed in organized bins for weekly pickup
  • Cardboard and rosin paper: Used for floor protection, cardboard and rosin paper are carefully pulled up and reused on other jobs, or separated and placed in bins for weekly pick up.
  • Paint: Any leftover paint is used after we prime a surface for a base coat before we apply a finish coat and in most cases we will have enough of a color left over to provide to our clients at a large discount for a single room or large area surface.
  • Empty paint cans: Empty paint cans are left open to dry out and then placed in specified recycling bins and recycled as tin and picked up weekly.
  • Dirty paint thinner: Used thinner is drained into a plastic container where the oil based matter falls to the bottom and clean thinner rises to the top. We then pour the recycled thinner through a filter into a reusable plastic container and it is ready for the next job. The oil based matter is taken to the city and county hazardous material disposal site for proper chemical evaporation.
  • No V.O.C.: No V.O.C. paints are now available and are highly recommended for all our interior painting projects. There is no odor, no emissions from drying and they cover all surfaces very nicely and the product is easy to work with.