Seaweed proved to be the special ingredient when Skye entrepreneur Alasdair Campbell set about researching sustainable materials to use in paint.
The experienced painter and decorator is now marketing a designer range of 32 colours, infused with the marine algae and inspired by the island’s dramatic landscape.
The venture began when Mr Campbell, who has run his own business on Skye for more than 20 years, started looking for local ingredients that could be added to masonry paint to toughen it up to withstand the harsh local climate.
He had hoped to use crushed Skye marble, but found that the lime content of the stone, which has been quarried on the island for centuries, was too high.
“From the main natural ingredients that are readily available here, that left midges, rain and seaweed,” said Mr Campbell, who, along with his wife, Carol, runs the Isle of Skye Paint Company from their shop in Portree. Continuing research showed seaweed, which is commonly used in marine paints, but not in household or masonry ranges, works well as a natural thickening agent, so Mr Campbell decided to use it in his new products.
The range currently uses seaweed from elsewhere in the UK, but Mr Campbell and another firm are trying to find a way of incorporating locally sourced algae. “We are still researching what the seaweed can do for the paint as well as thickening it,” he said, adding: “We wanted to use something local, but there is nobody here that can make the paint.
“We are currently working with the Isle of Skye Seaweed Company to see what we can do together.”