Palmdale, Calif.-In Palmdale, California households are doing much more with leftover paint than letting it clutter their garages or storage spaces.

Thanks to PaintCare, the community’s old paint has been given a chance at a new life. At PaintCare’s recent paint drop-off and giveaway event in Palmdale, hundreds of community members dropped off their unused paint for recycling, while others picked up paint in good condition for free. More than 19,000 pounds of paint were collected, while nearly 300 gallons were given away to the public.

PaintCare, the nonprofit organization created by paint manufacturers, makes it easy for households and businesses to drop off leftover house paint, stain, and varnish for recycling at more than 850 drop-off site locations throughout the state. Drop-off sites include paint retail, hardware, reuse, and lumber stores open during normal business hours, as well as locally managed government facilities. PaintCare also hosts events where households and businesses can drop off unused paint and, at select events, pick up free paint for reuse.

Once the paint is dropped off, PaintCare ensures that as much as possible is reused or recycled into new paint products or put to another beneficial use.

Muralists and Palmdale locals Carlo and Ethel Zafranco (who make up the muralist duo AQMNI) are a shining example of how leftover paint can have a new life. AQMNI was commissioned by the city of Palmdale to create a mural, a portion of which was painted using paint collected from the PaintCare program.

The mural, titled “Reaching Purity” is a depiction of our symbiotic relationship with nature and the importance of caring for our planet with efforts such as paint recycling.

Attendees were able to see the benefit of paint recycling in real time as Carlo painted the mural at the Palmdale Transportation Center during the drop-off and giveaway event.

“I think programs like this are important because it shows that the community cares,” said Carlo. “It’s important to reuse because of all the waste. It’s pretty apparent here even in Palmdale because we see the sizes of the landfills increasing, and I don’t know if we have all of the resources to deal with all the waste. So, if we take it upon ourselves at a citizen level to try to minimize that, I feel like it makes a big difference.”  

Besides the mural at the Transportation Center, the people of Palmdale had no shortage of reasons for picking up free paint. David Sischo, a returning attendee, was thrilled to be picking up paint again. “I came here last year and got enough paint to paint my entire house - 50 gallons!” David exclaimed. “My sons are building me a cabin to retire in this year, and we're painting all of the buildings.”

Another attendee, Wendy Preciado, was there with her mother to get paint for her new room. “I’m painting my room light blue,and this is the exact color I want.”

PaintCare’s California program has managed more than 32 million gallons of paint, stain, and varnish since its launch in 2012. PaintCare operates paint recycling programs in 10 states and the District of Columbia and has collected more than 64 million gallons of paint from households and businesses nationally since its launch in 2009. To fund the program, consumers pay a nominal fee when purchasing paint (called the PaintCare fee). Paint manufacturers pass the fee revenue to PaintCare to set up and operate drop-off sites, collect and transport paint, process and recycle it, and educate the public about the stewardship program.

For more information on PaintCare and to find a local drop-off site, please visit www.paintcare.org.

by Terri Marsman, California Program Manager, PaintCare