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If 10,000 Chicago Biters paint with no- to low-VOC paints instead of the conventional kinds, we’ll keep an Olympic pool’s worth of toxic paint out of our homes.

Some historians think painting by numbers was dreamed up by Michelangelo when he color-coded areas of the Sistine Chapel for his assistants.

Paint by Numbers

The Bite

Does calculating how much paint you need for your living room make your brain hurt? We won’t be joining Mensa anytime soon either, but try subtracting toxic fumes from the equation with Green Tree Painting and Design. The Ravenswood-based contractor uses only all-natural, clay- or soy-based paints on the job for a finished look in your fave color. The typical “new paint smell”? That’s thanks to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like benzene and kerosene - carcinogens and neurotoxins that can lead to headaches, nerve damage, and just plain dirty air. Green Tree paint is no- to low-VOC, and painters earn high marks with us for conscious practices like responsible project waste disposal and recycling. Add it all up, and it counts for something.

Wanna Try

Green Tree Painting and Design, 5022 N. Mozart St. b/t Carmen and Argyle Sts. (773-573-0583). Average living room painted w/ trim, doorframe, and ceiling, $400-$500.

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The Other Paint Tip
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Mar 06,2008

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