Slave Free Chocolate

I haven't posted in a while as I've been caught up in my project, Slave Free Chocolate as went to DC for some meeting on capitol hill and give a lecture at Georgetown University. Unfirtunatley, the construction sector in Southern California is sluggish at best so I have some extra time to devote to service.  For the last 4 years I've been running an advocacy website to bring awareness to the problem with the worst forms of child labor including forced child labor  in our cocoa supply chain. 

It's very normal to work on your family's farm.  Many, if not most children on this planet have to work.  The International Labor Organization which is part of the UN, has defines what its called the Worst Forms of Child Labor or WFCL (ILO Convention 182).  Simply, children working in unsafe conditions, with no access to school or emergency first aid/care and  includes all children that are trafficked  and forced into labor.  Most countries have ratified this convention.

Those who produce and harvest our agricultural commodities have always been on the poorest end of the stick. Abject poverty and unfair labor practices often go hand and hand.  In two West African countries, Ghana and The Ivory Coast, 1.8 million children are at risk of falling under the WFCL and the majority do.  Estimated percentage vary but a good chunk are modern day traffic children.  Boys make up about 70% of the trafficked children and ages vary the bulk between 10 and 15 years of age. 

As there are many similar situations like this in the world, this one is of particular interest as it is tied to chocolate, a US$ 90 billion industry, a treat.  We as American consumers are at the other end of this supply chain whenever we throw some M&M's in our mouth.

At the beginning of the supply chain you have children climbing trees with 2 foot long machetes, hacking gourd like pods off the cocoa tree trunks, then hacking them open with the same machetes to prize out the slimy beans to dry in the sun, with no emergency first aid services in site.  These children are using pesticides and carrying heavy loads. Only a handful of schools exist. The trafficked children usually come from two poorer countries to the north east, Mali and Burkina Faso.  Desperate for income, an uncle may sell a relative, often a child is lured by a lump sum of cash when the season completes and a portion are simply stolen off the streets and sold to brokers or plantation owners for about 250 euros. These children are beaten if they don't work hard enough or try to escape and are locked up at night.

 Both our government and those of Ghana and The Ivory Coast agree that this should be remedied.  The candy companies promised responsibility and urgent action to have this situation remedied by 2005. Something have been done, some things haven't been done and there are things we haven't even thought of or tried. Sadly, we are 10 year out from the gates and  we are only 5% down the road.

It is in the opinion of Slave Free Chocolate that the surface has been scratched a structure of remediation put in place but those who signed the protocol haven't done what they promised to do and fund this puppy.  Our government worked hard to create a structure that would make it as easy as possible for the industry to comply.  Those that are out of integrity with their word and actions are: Cargill, Archer Daniel Midland, Nestle, Hershey, Kraft, World's Finest Chocolate, Guittard Chocolate, Barry Callebaut and Blommer Inc.

Slave Free Chocolate's mission is to spread awareness and educate consumers to use their voice and dollar as a vote that we don't want slavery in our chocolate. If you are interested in helping by writing some letters to your elected officials, local grocery stores and candy companies, please go to Slave Free Chocolate.

Venetian Plaster Repair--Detective Work.

I got a call from a woman in Cornado, Ca who was looking for someone who could repair the patching that didn't go well on her Venetian plastered kitchen cabinets.  The red flags in her request are with the word "patching" and two red flags for the term "Venetian plastered kitchen cabinets".  I am in no way interested in the job but this did incite much curiosity.  Couldn't help but go down that rabbit hole.

First, applying Venetian plaster as a finish for cabinets doesn't make a lot of sense.  First if you are going to use authentic lime plaster, you are dealing with a material that when, dry is more like a thin sheet of ice, than a layer of paint.  I would think, even if successful in application, it would chip easily.  But going back a little, applying lime plaster on cabinets would also be difficult  to move the material in various directions and almost impossible to burnish.  That said, I have seen some well executed work using synthetic plasters on furniture and such but its very rare.

The applicator had to either be the Grand Master of them all, or some clueless fool.  So pretending like I might be interested in this repair-the-patch-work I asked the homeowner who did it and did she know what was used.  As I distribute plaster through Metro Wallworks and teach through California School of Italian Plasters, I know most of my competition pretty well.  If I recognize the name, I can usually take a pretty good guess at what products they are using and well versed in.   The homeowner gave me a name I didn't recognize at all and said that Venetian plastering isn't what he normally does.  Just like I thought, it was the latter.  She did mention that the applicator had a French man guiding him as he went.  She had no idea of the product he used but did still have a can of some French wax used.   There are a couple of French faux finishers in town but I can't imagine them getting involved in such a project.

The cabinets had gotten dinged up here and there due to some other construction in the house. She called in a woman who came to patch them for her.  So was this woman the Grand Master of Venetian Plasterers who could take on such a job or another clueless fool?  My guess is that she is a local faux finisher with little Venetian plaster experience.  The owner didn't know the name but did have the product she used, American Traditions Venetian Plaster.  OK, well that stuff can look nice but its not authentic Venetian plaster which means its got a little lime, some gypsum, some acrylic resins and what not.  I'm not knocking the product but one can't just slap this over a waxed mystery plaster with any hope of success.

The owner complained that the patches weren't the same color as the original cabinets.  According to the homeowner,  the patches were about 7 shades too light.  Now I was really curious, so I get the homeowner to send me pictures of the cabinets.  They looked better than I thought, but they don't look like they have Venetian plaster on them.  The patches actually just make the cabinets look a little more vintage (even though vintage  wasn't the original intent).

My point to this blog is to really point out some aspects you must take in mind when it comes to repairing work you didn't do yourself.

• Play detective and find out as much as you possible can. Encourage the homeowner to call the original applicator.
• If it has been waxed, the whole wall must be done again.
• If you don't know the original material, much time could be spent on texture and color matching.
• Its probably less time consuming to redo the whole plane than to patch.
• Charge time and materials and don't promise success. 

Japanese Plaster, Eco de Vita application shown by Job Corps, San Francisco

Japanese plaster is made from coral sand or diatomaceous earth.  Both are from the sea, where the sand and little diatoms tumbled the ocean floor for eons before it was sustainly brought to the surface to have itself transfromed into a new material for walls. 

This video produced by Job Corps  is two fold.  First it shows you how to flatten or float out a textured surrface and then shows you how to work with the Japanese plaster.  Notice how Tim, the instructor, switches to a Japanese trowel when he works with the Eco De Vita.   I really can't say "why" they work better, but they do.  If you are interested in learning Japanese plaster application you have a couple of choices.  First you can order a sample making kit from Eco De Vita or you can take a one day certification course from California School of Italian Plasters.

Typical Problems Addressed

Hi, in this post I am addressing the typical problems people run into when applying high polished lime plasters but can also happen on thicker marmorinos as well.  Everything below is assuming that the traditional technique of 3 coats is being used.  The following is taught in the Master Plaster Class at California School if Italian Plasters.

Bubbles are appearing on my 3rd coat when I am burnishing: You may have applied the 3rd coat too soon.

The 2nd coat is peeling:  Your first coat might have been applied too thinly not leaving enough of a base to absorb the correct amount of water from the 2nd coat.

The 3rd coats is peeling and cracking:  The second coat might not have been dry enough before you applied the 3rd coat.  Make sure that the 3rd coat is pulled tightly as you only need a very thin layer.

Lines are showing up in the finish: Check your trowel for any scratches or debris. Always keep a clean wet rag with you at all times. Also keep 400 grit sand paper to polish off any tiny scratches in the trowel you might have made by picking up debris.

I am getting too many trowel marks: If anyone tells you he can do a room with no trowel marks he is lying. Trowel marks will happen and if the are not too thick, they are part of the finish.  The thick ones are made when the back of the trowel has built up plaster on it.  Every time you load up for more material you should scrape the back of the trowel with your spatula.

I've got thick wet spots on some of my wall but the rest is ready to burnish:  Keep a hairdryer on hand and gently help dry the thick spots so that you don't miss the burnish on the whole wall.

One wall is darker than the other:  You have to make sure that you are burnishing your walls at the  same dryness level.  If one person is burnishing when the plaster is on the early side of the "in love" window, it will be darker than one burnishing on the dryer time of the window.

I am leaving marks on both ends of the trowel when I apply plaster:  This means that your trowel isn't convex enough.  Press on all for corners of the trowel to correct it.

I am leaving dark grey marks on the light plaster when I burnish.  You aren't using a good plaster.  It probably has silica in it.  You should switch to a plastic trowel or a CD case to burnish. Also, some plasters are burnishable with paper.

VOC's and Paint-The Low Down

VOCs – Volatile Organic Compounds


Many green builders are concerned with the VOC content of the paint they use, as they are an important consideration for both environmental and human health impacts.



What are VOCs? VOCs are a class of carbon-based chemicals that have the capacity to evaporate readily at room temperature. They can degrade air quality both in buildings and in the atmosphere, they may produce odors, and they contribute to smog. The health effects of different VOCs vary considerably. There are four VOC compounds that are widely used in the production of latex paint: ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, texanol, and butyl carbitol. All are considered low toxicity, though they can cause nose and throat irritation and other discomfort at high concentrations.



What are EPAlimits on VOCs in paints? The US Environmental Protection Agency air quality regulations (40CFR59.400 et. seq.) limit the VOC content of paint. These limits are intended to protect the environment by reducing the creation of photochemical smog in the atmosphere. For the class of paints that includes MetroPaint, Recycled Paint by Metro Wallworks, and Acrylatex the VOC content is limited to 250 grams per liter.



Green building: the practice of increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use and harvest energy, water and materials, and reducing building impacts on human health and the environment, through better siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal — the complete building life cycle. (Wikipedia)

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What are “Low VOC” paints? Some manufactures have developed latex paint products that are lower in VOCs. However there is no regulatory definition of Low VOC, so the VOC content of paints labeled as Low VOC can vary. Some are simply in compliance with EPA regulations. Others may be significantly lower, some are even close to zero and may be labeled as “No VOC” or “Zero VOC”. Green Seal, an international standards-setting organization for environmentally preferable products, has established VOC limits for virgin paints (www.greenseal.org). For interior paint their limits are 50 grams/liter for flat paints, 150 grams/liter for non-flat, for exterior the Green Seal limit is 100 grams/liter for flat, 200 grams/liter for non-flat.



When are Low VOC Paints a good choice? When a building interior is to be painted and there are concerns about indoor air quality, particularly with individuals that are sensitive to odors or chemicals that may be exposed during the first few days after painting. The most significant concentration of VOC vapors occurs within 100 hours after painting 1.



When is Metro Wallworks Recycled Paint a good choice for the environment? Recycled Paint by Metro Wallworks’s modest VOC content is appropriate for exterior applications and interior applications other than those with indoor air quality concerns. But VOCs are not the only environmental consideration- there are a number of other environmental benefits provided by recycled paint (see the section on Lifecycle below).



Additional Notes about VOC’s



•• The VOC levels in EPA’s regulations and Green Seal’s virgin paint standards are intended to apply to paint before it is tinted at the point of sale. Colorants added at the point of sale contain VOCs as carriers. Darker colors in particular can have a lot of colorant added, and thus add a lot of VOCs. Recycled paint is at a disadvantage here, as post-consumer paint contains these colorants. Tinting can add as much as 80 grams/liter to the VOC content, so the VOC content of MetroPaint would be somewhat lower if it could be calculated the same way.



1 An EPA study concludes that the rate of off-gassing of the four main VOC compounds found in latex paint can vary considerably depending on the substrate. For non-porous surfaces such as stainless steel, nearly all of the VOCs are emitted within the first 100 hours after painting. In contrast, freshly painted porous surfaces, such as wood or sheetrock, release a relatively small amount of the VOCs in the initial “puff”, emitting the remaining VOCs at very low levels over time, possibly as long as 3.5 years.

However, the study found that even on porous surfaces the ethylene glycol vapors dropped to under 1 mg/m3 by 100 hours, and down to about 0.1 mg/m3 for most of the long off-gassing process. For comparison, OSHA allows occupational exposures of ethylene glycol up to 100 mg/m3. The other three VOCs were found in even smaller amounts after 100 hours, close to the lower limit of the test method’s ability to detect.

Reference: Chang, John C.S., “Capstone Report on the Development of a Standard Test Method for VOC Emissions from Interior Latex and Alkyd Paints.” US EPA 2001. EPA/600/R-01/093

MetroPaint –



Under EPA’s air quality regulations latex paint recycling is encouraged, and recyclers are allowed to use an “adjusted VOC content” calculation, taking into account the percentage of paint that is recycled from post-consumer sources



• Green Seal recently published a standard for recycled paints, including the requirement that the VOC content of recycled paints be under 250 grams/liter.



• EPA’s VOC regulations are targeted at atmospheric pollution, and not all harmful chemicals are included in their definition of VOCs, so a paint that is labeled as Low or No VOC may still emit some vapors that are harmful to human health. A 2001 EPA study found that “ … certain paints marketed as low-VOC may still emit significant quantities of air pollutants” (see reference in footnote 1 on previous page). In some cases the overall quantity of VOCs was quite low, but significant amounts of specific compounds were nevertheless emitted.



• The VOCs in recycled paint have already been manufactured and will enter the environment one way or the other, and when it is used instead of virgin paint recycled paint reduces the need to manufacture new VOCs.



LEEDand other certifications

LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a benchmarking system developed by the US Green Building Council (www.usgbc.org) to certify high performance green buildings. Building projects accumulate points toward certification in a variety of different categories. In commercial buildings the use of MetroPaint can help garner points for LEED certification in a couple of ways:



• Under the Recycled Content credits (MR4.1/4.2), use of recycled paint, and especially 100% recycled paint, can help qualify for credits.



• Under the Regional Materials credits (MR5.1/5.2), use of paint that is manufactured regionally helps gain credits. This is defined as within 500 miles, which includes much of the Pacific Northwest for Metro’s Portland-based plant.



In the recently-released LEED for Homes, credit is specifically awarded for use of recycled paint that is certified by Green SealTM. There are other green building certification systems, such as the guidelines developed by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) for residential construction (www.nahb.org), and the Green Globes Standards (www.greenglobes.com). These guidelines are similar to LEED in that points are available for both recycled content building materials and regionally-manufactured materials.

MetroPaint



Lifecycle benefits

For years environmental advocates have been promoting recycling of various household commodities, such as newspaper, glass, aluminum, etc. The environmental benefits of recycling these materials are that less energy, water and raw materials are used, less pollution is generated, and less landfill space is used. Because less energy is used less greenhouse gases are emitted, and global warming is reduced. All of these benefits hold true for paint as well.

Production of new paint uses resources and generates pollution during the extraction of raw materials, the manufacturing process, and transportation of final products. Every time a gallon of MetroPaint is used instead of a gallon of new paint, a number of benefits are obtained:



• An estimated 100 kilowatt–hours (kWh) of energy is saved. Recycling paint actually saves more energy per pound than other construction materials, such as steel, glass, and lumber. 100 kWh is enough energy to power a refrigerator for two months or a clock for two years. Because of the energy savings, an estimated 115 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions are reduced when recycled paint is used instead of new.



• Various types of pollution are not generated. A significant percentage of the ingredients in latex paint are derived from petrochemicals, the extraction of which results in various environmental impacts, notably air emissions and waste discharges to surface waters. The extraction of titanium dioxide, another important latex paint ingredient, results in the production of significant quantities of sulfuric acid, metal sulfates, and metal chlorides, wastes which are commonly disposed of in the ocean, or via deep well injection



• Less water and raw materials are used. Quantitative information on the relative amounts of water and raw materials utilized in the course of paint recycling vs. virgin paint manufacture are not currently available, but it is clear that ingredient extraction, the manufacturing process, and transportation of virgin paint require substantial raw materials and water, while the relatively simple recycling process uses significantly less.



• Landfill space is conserved. 14 million gallons of paint is disposed of in California every year. That is a lot of space. Using recycled paint where you can, get it out of there.

Art Deco Dream

    I just spent the night on the Queen Mary that has been parked in the port of Long Beach, Ca since 1967.  I was there with my daughter and some friends celebrating the 75th birthday of that ship.  Although I've visited the RMS Queen Mary, I've never had the pleasure to spend the night aboard the ship until a few days ago.  It pretty much satisfied my fantasy of being locked in a museum overnight.  As a history buff, any museum is of interest to me but as an Anglophile, armature historian, and artisan, its almost overwhelming.   

    The ship was built in Scotland and took a little over 3 years to build employing 300,000 craftsman. It was finished in 1936.  Just the thought of 300,000 craftsmen made me contemplate how the world has changed.  I doubt there are 300,000 craftsmen in the US let alone Scotland.  That was the age of Art Deco where the most magnificent decorative work was all done by hand.  As a craftswoman myself, there is nothing more satisfying than completing my part of the project.  I can only imagine what it would have been like to be part of the crew that completed this ship, or and magnificent structure like the Chrysler Building, or the Michelin House.  Without doubt, this economic downturn has been rough on tradesmen, decorative artists, and contractors.  My business is no exception.   The visit, though to the Queen Mary made me realize that I would rather be part of those that create beautiful surfaces then sit in an AIG office any day of the week.

There is a Mercato at the Forum

I am piloting a paradigm shift in the status quo of forums.  Although I've been members of a few and moderator, assistant moderator etc., I've often found them a mixed bag when it comes to an effective tool for my business. 

What I've liked about them: 

• Trouble Shooting-When something is amiss on my project, forums have been a great source of help.  I've always received very valuable information within hours of posting.
• Community-We are small contractors who spend many hours in relative solitude. A professional forum makes up for the lack of hanging around the water cooler.
• Gallery-Great place to view my colleagues work.

What I've disliked about them:

• Communication between vendors and forum members-If you are a vendor there is a fine line between acting as a useful resource and being considered annoying.  As I have an application business as well as a distribution business, I can speak for both sides.  I can remember a post where someone asked about tape.  A forum member suggested this fancy orange tape.  A vendor posted that one could get the fancy orange tape from his business.  Then all heck broke loose, his post was yanked and no one got the needed orange tape.   I've also seen where some vendors are allowed to market their wares in a post topic but others aren't.  After years of this, I no longer use a forum for product knowledge.  I think this is stupid.

The solution:

• The Mercato-I just took over as head of the one Venetian Plaster Forum.   With my unexpected new powerful role here, I'd thought I would try and evolve this into a more useful place.  If forum members don't have a place to talk amongst themselves without being bombarded from vendors, they won't use it.  They need their space.  But additionally, busy professionals need a place to search for materials.  I thought if we could combine the both a forum with a directory we might have something. So on the Venetian Plaster Forum is now a Mercato that gives all vendors their own category in which  hold conversations with members and market however they please.   If you are a plasterer, consider joining the forum as you will have the community of others and a convenience of a directory.  Vendors, let me know if you would like to be listed.  This is open to all.  Please contact me at info@metrowallworks.com

Two Worlds Collide

As you may recall I moved my Italian Plasterworks studio back to my house. I have a showroom at the new location but am keeping the laboratory work for our clients away from the new space. Metro Wallworks' focus is on the work of students and clients as well as our new thing, Recycled Paint. In just a couple of weeks many gallons of recycled paint will be sharing space right next to buckets of fancy Italian plasters. What do they have in common? Aside from the fact that they both go on walls and I am passionate about both materials they take use very little energy to produce. The process of slaking lime is completely ancient with little environmental impact. Pits are dug and the lime is slowly cooked by burning recycled wood. Recycled paint is made through a low impact process of filtering and scrubbing. Manufacturing new paint is a huge energy suck. It take approximately 1000 kilo watt hours of energy to create just 10 gallons of paint. That is the same amount of energy it takes to run an average home for a month.

I've worked long and hard at becoming the self appointed queen of Venetian Plaster west of the Mississippi(the queen on the east side is Debra Cambell of Wallartistry). So why am I on a crusade to sell recycled flat latex paint? Simply because this should be done. It's too easy of a way in which to change our environment for the better. About 10 percent of all paint lands up in landfills. We are talking about 7 million gallons in the state of California alone. So we have 7 million gallons do dispose of and we aren't putting it back on our walls? That is just as ridiculous as saying I will only drink beer out of a bottle that was made with virgin glass. I don't really follow glass production but I imagine company's like Owen Illinois and PPG were a little bummed at first, but they adjusted and now we all expect glass to be recycled with the exception of our fine crystal etc... I would so like to see paint go this way as well and I fully believe it will. Metro Wallworks is in a perfect position to get this started. I am not a paint store and have no business relationship with any paint company so I don't care if they are mad it me.* Overhead on Metro Wallworks is very low (low overhead is the new black) which is imperative to keeping the price below that of new paint.  Given that we sell buckets of Venetian Plaster our distribution channel ready to go.

On Saturdays at 2065 South Escondido Blvd. Escondido 92025  (Metro Wallworks ) is where you will see  worlds collide and hopefully empowering each other all around the subject of walls.  You will have the decorative artisan/master craftsman milling around with those passionate about easing the footprint on our planet.  All putting something on walls.  In order for Metro Wallworks to remain responsible for what we sell, we will take back all of our unused or half empty buckets of our paint.  In efforts to encourage this, we will be holding events on Saturdays which include both beer** and demos of how to be decorative with recycled paint.  I am going to call on my friends in the decorative painting world to come up with some amazing finishes.  Stay tuned and please contact me if you have any ideas you would like to share.

*Big Candy already doesn't like me as I am editor of http://www.slavefreechocolate.org/.  Big Paint can just get behind them.  Maybe someday Julian Assange can go on the lam together.
**I have this vision of having start up brewery's give out samples of their beer on Satudays but I am not sure how its going to work with the City of Escondido yet.