Creating Conciously 🌿

It is easy to feel like I create a ton of waste using the paint, paper, glitter, and other materials in my creative process. Not to mention the times when I mess up, and then the whole piece is thrown out. I have however worked very hard to reduce, reuse, and recycle as much as I can. Below you’ll find the tricks I’ve found to help save the earth and help my bottom line. If you have any helpful tips yourself, please contact me! I’m not a perfectly eco-conscious artist, but I believe every little step helps us all go further in the right direction.

1. Reduce!

I think this one is the hardest, because most of my materials seem necessary. That said, one way I practice this R is by using materials that can be reused. Dollarama carries smooth semi-hard plastic beach cups that acrylic paint peels off quite smoothly. This way, I can reuse the same cups for mixing and pouring my colours over and over. Another tip is to save any containers from your everyday products to use as mixing pots. Giving things a second life is a great way to help reduce your need for more thing and spend less money. 

For any resin crafters reading this, buy yourself a silicone or hard plastic mixing paddle. If you’re in Toronto, Gwartzmans has them for a great price -- they come in some pretty colours too! Popsicle sticks are still good to have on hand; you can reuse them a few times as well before they’re too mucked up.

2. Reuse!

Shopping online was one of my primary ways of buying materials before the pandemic, but now it is essential. The only upside to me using up all that gas and polluting the air in buying the materials is that reusing the packaging to ship my orders. I save all the packaging that is useful to me in a storage bin, allowing me to make sure all my shipped orders are extra safe when being shuffled around the postal system.

3. Recycle!

As the saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure!

I have found stunning (and free) canvases in the garbage or on the sidewalk. Whether it is literal canvases, old mirrors, statues, or any other junk that inspires, I’ll bring it home as long as I can paint on it. I’m able to lower costs while also upcycling landfill-destined items. I have found mirrors, vintage paintings, tables, etc., in the garbage area of the condo where I work. If you keep an eye out and get creative, there are endless free supplies out there waiting for you.

Now my friends are part of the upcycling movement, and whenever they see something in their building or are getting rid of personal items, they will check with me and see if I want it. This makes it a fun little game for us while encouraging others to think about ways to do similar things in their lives too. It makes me so happy to know we can all affect each other positively and make progress, even if it’s only on the personal level.

4. Extra Tips!

Until we can reproduce colours made from natural sources on a mass and reasonably cheap scale, the materials themselves can’t be helped. However, the nitrile gloves that many artists now use are biodegradable! Showa makes a biodegradable nitrile glove that breaks down in 1-5 years (compared to the standard 100+). Al,lso, for any epoxy workers, check out EcoPoxy. They manufacture bio-based epoxies and have committed to lowering our carbon footprint. If you’re interested in how this resin compares to others, I will be posting another blog post reviewing all the different resins soon. Keep your eyes peeled and sign up for my email list to get a notification when I post it.