Pittsburgh Paints just announced its 2008-09 line of paints, which include the EcoEcho paints that contain low VOCs. Within that line, customers can choose from four color palettes – "Fair Trade," "Eco Techno," "Eco Loco" and "Vintage." Despite the names, the four categories are named after the colors and actually have nothing to do with fair trade or disco balls.

Major commercial brands, such as Pittsburgh Paints, seem very different from something like Milk Paint, which claims to be the greenest paint available.

What do paint manufacturers seem to think makes a green paint? Low VOCs.

VOCs, such as formaldehyde, are carbon compounds that form ground-level ozone and can cause respiratory problems, skin and eye irritation, headaches, nausea, etc. They are found in most paints and can seriously lessen your indoor air quality when slapped on the walls of your house. The EPA states that paints labeled "zero-VOC" or "no-VOC" can still contain up to five grams of VOCs per liter.

So can we really call the paints that boast low VOCs environmentally friendly? What should the requirements be for a paint to be green? What about being transparent about how paints are produced and how much pollution comes from that process, what other chemicals the paint contains, whether it is combustible?

Until tighter regulations or more voluntary transparency come about, we can make choices only on the information provided. Green Home Guide lists pages of paints that claim to better for your health and the environment, and gives reviews of each one. And Build it Green describes what to avoid when shopping for green paints.