Portland is our home and is full of the creative energy and the environmental verve needed to launch and fuel a green business like YOLO Colorhouse, which stands for premium, environmentally responsible paint products with a user-friendly color palette. Portland's reputation as a leader in green living and sustainability certainly adds to our credibility as we introduce our product to national and international audiences.

As owners of a custom paint and plaster finishes company, we have been creating custom finishes since 1996, from ceiling murals on canvas to complete restaurant interiors, as well as mixing custom colors for designers and homeowners. Increasingly conscious of the effects even water-based paints have both on our health and the environment, we began to search for alternatives. We began to make paint using old recipes, researching and experimenting with clay paints, plasters, milk paint and lime plasters. We even collected clay from the road cuts of the Painted Hills area in Central Oregon to create a clay-striped wall in our studio, which pays homage to the beautiful colors of the earth.

Simultaneously, we experimented with low and zero-voc paint products. VOC's are the solvents in paint, which evaporate easily at room temperature -the stinky stuff, bad for people and the environment. VOCs are thought to be contributors to the depletion of the ozone layer, as well as contributors to poor indoor air quality. As painters, we believe performance and durability is essential to every paint product. As artists, we believe environmentally responsible products can offer good design. In 2005, YOLO Colorhouse® was born, combining a premium, zero-voc paint with a limited, designer palette.

Other ways we are sustainable include use 100% post-consumer recycled paper in the office, on our labels and also for all of our marketing materials; all our brochures and product labels use soy-based inks; and even our in-store displays are constructed from cardboard and wheatboard.

We know, however, that we can do better. Among other things, we are currently working on creating our carbon footprint and looking at ways to reduce and offset it. In January 2007, we hired Derek Smith, a Portland sustainability guru formerly with Norm Thompson, to analyze the company's operating practices and supply chain and to guide our business with an the triple bottom line in mind. This commitment to sustainability is something that we feel passionately about, and are still striving to reach our full "green" potential.