.Best Eco-Friendly Art Supplies

Why would you let your kids slather their hands with petrochemical-based paint? It’s a good question, says Berkeley artist Ashley Phelps, founder of Glob Natural Paints. Rather than using chemicals that contain nasty volatile organic compounds, Phelps makes paint from food-grade ingredients like beets, purple carrots, turmeric, red cabbage, tomatoes, annatto seed, alfalfa, and marigolds. She got the idea when a chemist friend showed her house paint he was developing using cacti; Phelps wondered why there weren’t eco-friendly paint options for artists, and Glob Natural Paints was born. Phelps sells her products online and, as to further conserve resources, ships the paint as dry powder pigments to which users just add water. Fear no art: Glob is here.