Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day by buying a gallon of recycled paint. It’s reasonably priced, offers one-coat coverage, and you’ll be supporting special-needs employees.

Matt Molenkamp, 24, had been looking for work for a year before Earth Paint came into his life.

“Having a disability and getting employed can be hard,” said the Wood Dale resident, who has cerebral palsy.

But Christopher McCarthy, Earth Paint founder, offered him a job, and since he began work in August, life is “awesome,” according to Molenkamp.

“I’m learning something new, as I go every day," he said. “My dad is a carpenter, and because of having a disability, I didn’t see myself doing labor work, but now I come home every day covered in paint. I absolutely love what I do.”

Molenkamp is part of the team at Earth Paint, a Wood Dale-based 501(3)(c) nonprofit whose mission is to recycle and sell paint and to create employment opportunities for people with special needs. The organization began six years ago after McCarthy saw a void when he was painting structures in Palatine’s Little City, which serves the special-needs population.

“I was working in real estate and running a paint contracting company, and those two had one thing in common, which was every single one of my customers wanted me to get rid of all of the old paint that they had,” said McCarthy, a Delavan, Wisconsin, native. “I started to collect cans of paint and keep them in my basement, and I also was working with some special-needs organizations, and one of them -- the Little City Foundation -- said: Hey, we have a lot of people that are capable of working. Are there any jobs they can do with you to try to create some employment?”

McCarthy asked for help recycling 300 cans of paint. With two people from Little City, the cans were processed in a couple of hours. Impressed with their work ethic, McCarthy created more employment opportunities for the special-needs population. Last year, he had 19 special-needs employees on staff, all working on recycling paint and the containers that they come in. People drop off their unused paint at a charge of $5 a gallon, the contents get sorted by a number of criteria (brands, sheens, colors, interior or exterior, water-based, etc.), and new paint is produced and sold at $25 a gallon in a variety of colors.

“We are half, if not two-thirds, cheaper than our direct chemically equivalent competition,” McCarthy said. "We have more than 31,000 gallons of paint in our 5,000-square-foot building right now, and more will come. Every single container we get gets stirred, checked and prescreened with filters into containers, and once containers are more than halfway full, we test for chemistry, quality and color. For the last quarter of the container, we can control what color the paint is going to end up being, so we will make it into something that is super neutral that we know is trendy.”

McCarthy said all the money goes back into the organization to pay workers. Until coronavirus closed nonessential businesses, McCarthy said, Earth Paint was selling 500 gallons of paint at nine locations in Chicagoland, including a number of Habitat for Humanity ReStores, Rebuilding Exchange and an Ace Hardware in Elgin.

Because it’s a new product made from other paints that are used as a base, McCarthy says, Earth Paint offers better coverage with one coat. Earth Paint is a fully functioning paint store with tinting equipment; the only difference is that Earth Paint needs to add less colorant -- and therefore fewer volatile organic compounds -- than other stores because its paints already have color in them.

“Basically we’re putting everything together and coming up with something that covers better, dries faster and is more washable,” he said. “Paint is typically 80% to 90% water, and our paints might be 70% water, thus we end up with thicker paint that covers better. Sustainability means that we use less resources to make our product, and we use 90% less resources than new paint manufacturers use to make new paint.”

And on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, McCarthy says that means a lot. He wants to spend the rest of his life helping Earth Paint evolve. During the pandemic, McCarthy is not averse to delivering paint to customers, and since schools are out for the rest of the school year, Earth Paint is offering 2 gallons of paint for free to schools for each gallon they purchase for $29.99.

This Easter, Earth Paint worked with the Center of Itasca on the Stained Glass Project to provide free paint kits to community members who wanted to celebrate the holiday by painting windows of their home. A total of 270 kits were given out, said the Rev. Bob Butler.

“Chris’ heart goes beyond paint; it goes to people,” Butler said. “So when somebody asks me about Earth Paint, I say it’s one of the greatest ideas to come around, and more people need to be aware of it. ... The idea is right for a time like this. The smallest thing can become something so cool.”

“It really takes conscious thought to make recycling a more effective reality, McCarthy said. “We are controlling the paint part of recycling, but we have no control over what you do with all the rest of your products. Think of us when it comes to paint and where this product is going to end up even before you buy it. Don’t be afraid to give us a shot, and you will be exceedingly happy with the quality and longevity of it and you can feel really good that it’s a green product and we are giving back everything we can to the community.”

Molenkamp is one semester away from completing his teaching degree in physical education at Illinois State University, but he said that even when he starts teaching with his degree, Earth Paint will be a part of his life. McCarthy said he can see Molenkamp managing a different location if and when Earth Paint expands.

“I’m planning to finish my degree, but Earth Paint is always going to be something that I will be a part of because I believe in it so much,” Molenkamp said. “The guys who work here are a family. They believe in me, and it’s just a great environment to be in. What we’re doing here is we’re trying to take care of the planet and do our best. My goal in life has always been to make a difference and help people and I feel like I can do that being here.”

drockett@chicagotribune.com

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