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» Painting the world white |
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| Painting the world white |
Just before Easter in villages all over Greece, the locals go out with a
large brush and paint their environs white. White lines border the street
and edge the paving stones, blazing white creeps up the walls and coats the
trunks of trees. Traditional house and garden walls are not neglected.
When a foreigner, observing this activity for the first time, asks what is
happening, the villagers tell him: ‘we are painting with asvestis.’ Filled
with horror at the word - so obviously asbestos - the foreigner begins to
worry about living in contact with a cancer-causing chemical.
He is not aware that the name is the problem, not the product.
‘Asbestos’ in Greece is an environmentally friendly, waste-free paint. The
correct name for the cancerous substance called ‘asbestos’ in the western
world is ‘amiantos’.
‘Asbestos’ derives from the Ancient Greek ‘a’ and ‘svistos’, which means
‘unquenchable’ and refers to the chemical reaction when mixed with water.
The word ‘amiantos’ derives from ‘a’ and ‘miantos’ which means
‘indestructible’.
These terms have a 5000 year precedence. Both products were widely used in
Ancient Greece and then by the Romans. In the ancient world, Cyprus had the
largest production of amiantos - what is known as asbestos by
English-speakers - and today two villages near the ancient mines are called
Ano and Kato Amiantos.
These same names are still used today in their correct sense by the
descendants of the Ancient Greeks. The correct word, deriving from
‘amiantos’, was also adopted in Italy by the Romans and continued today by
the Italians, French and Spanish. Great Britain, Germany, USA and Australia,
however, decided to use the word ‘asbestos’ as the name for the cancerous
product which should be called ‘amiantos’.
The environmentally friendly paint ‘asvestis’ (whitewash or limewash in
English) has been used since ancient times and still is in wide use today in
Greece, where people exploit its hygienic and disinfectant properties when
they paint everything white. It is used in bathrooms and stables for this
reason. Painted on tree trunks, it has antibacterial and insect-repellent
properties.
Due to confusion over the names many visitors to Corfu and Greece are
striken with terror because they think they are living in a house painted
with a cancer-causing chemical. Of course the walls are nothing else but
limewash-painted. Moreover, the confusion has caused the Greeks themselves
to turn to the hazardous chemical paints of the western world instead of
using their own product. Even though it doesn’t makes economic sense. The
price of 40 litres of asbestos (limewash) paint is one pound, an amount that
will not even buy you even one litre of the hazardous chemical paint.
There is an asbestos paint factory near Arillas. It’s a messy place, but
it’s also obvious that no pollutive waste is involved in the process. Just
lime and water. Unlike in the production of chemical paints, during which
massive quantities of poisonous elements are released into the environment,
usually into rivers.
Companies in Greece and Italy like the Arillas one have tried to export
their product overseas but are told they cannot - because of the misleading
name. Certain German firms have told them that, in order to export, they
have to change the name from ‘asvestis’ to ‘calc’. But the question is: Who
should change the name? The descendants of the Greeks that invented and
named the product many thousands of years ago, or countries like Germany
that just copied it? Could this be a breach of copyright of a generic
product name? Similar to other international breaches of copyright, such as
feta, champagne, ouzo and Roquefort?
One thing is certain. Greeks and visitors can be assured that asbestos paint
is nothing else but the harmless, environmentally friendly limewash. We use
it in our renovation projects and also in new builds. Mr. Dulux, this could
be a great marketing opportunity for you, if you decide to turn back the
clock and return to ancient harmless products. For our children's sake...
Harry Tsoukalas |
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