As a lover of physical art—painting on a canvas, sculpting with clay, sewing together fabric—I often feel guilty about the environmental consequences of my hobbies. I think of the numerous sketchbooks I raced through while growing up and how many trees it took to make them, or the numerous fabric scraps I carelessly tossed out, which inevitably wound up in an overflowing landfill.
Nonetheless, I also think about how much joy a pencil and paper can bring me, not to mention countless other artists across the globe. How relaxing a paintbrush in our hands is. When I spend hours on end drawing, I know that I could never give up the pastime.
In order to counteract the damaging effects of physical art, crafty individuals need to follow the principles of Earth Day—reduce, reuse, and recycle!
- Reduce.
- Use up all supplies on hand before purchasing new ones. Wait until the pen runs dry, the paint runs out, and the pencil is shaved away.
- Consider if you truly need more supplies; are new “artist” pencils necessary when you have #2s at home?
- Opt for packaging-free materials: individual writing tools, loose paper.
- Reuse.
- Use both sides of a piece of paper.
- Paint over finished canvases if you have no desire for the prior painting.
- Paint water does not need to be replaced after each rinse; conserve it!
- Recycle.
- Rather than tossing old pieces of art, hang them up, gift them, sell them, or learn how to make new paper out of old paper!
- Use worn-out clothing as rags to clean.
- Utilize washed food packaging (yogurt containers, glass bottles, to-go containers) as storage for paint/water in your next project.