Sustainability
As a conservationist sustainability and lowering your carbon footprint is important to me but creating ceramics is never going to be carbon neutral. But I have and continue to work at minimising my footprint as much as possible by-
Power & electricity - have a roof full of solar panels that helps light up my studio and provides about half of the power for my kiln firings. My wheel is pedal/foot powered!
Solar heated hot water provides the odd bowl full of warm water for washing things down.
Water- My water butts that collect rainwater from the roofs are normally the easiest access to water.
Clay - I recycle all my white and crank scraps and unfired mishaps in a bucket of water and when that is full I pour off the water and slop it on a big plaster batt and then wedge it back into balls of clay to be used to make new work. Other types of clay get used as the bases for slips but even I have to resort to throwing some bits away when there won't be enough to make anything worthwhile.
I also bulk buy or buy my clay from a large 'clay dump' to reduce individual delivery costs.
Wrapping and bags - Most of my friends provide me with 'posh' good quality buy that I can reuse at events when someone buys my work (I realise that my friends buy a lot of clothes during the year). I still love bubble wrap but now reuse, reuse and reuse my own and anyone else's wrapping- each time its gets a little bit smaller and a little bit flatter. It is supplemented by new fancy paper wrappings but they do collapse and fall to bits quicker.
Newspapers - Friends provide me with newspapers and if I am lucky they don't always do all the crosswords so that can be a distraction from working! I crumple up newspaper to act as internal supports when making sculptures and use the paper to help lift a flat slab from one surface to another without sticking.
Equipment- my most useful and trusted equipment are a few old kitchen forks, boned knives, grandma's rolling pin and some old white tiles that I use to put small pots and tiles on to carry them around.
In fact everything that goes into the home recycling bin is first thought about whether it will make a nice mould, stamp out or cut a shape, have an interesting texture or hold some liquid/slip/stain or glaze.
My car is not electric but at least it is not diesel.
Power & electricity - have a roof full of solar panels that helps light up my studio and provides about half of the power for my kiln firings. My wheel is pedal/foot powered!
Solar heated hot water provides the odd bowl full of warm water for washing things down.
Water- My water butts that collect rainwater from the roofs are normally the easiest access to water.
Clay - I recycle all my white and crank scraps and unfired mishaps in a bucket of water and when that is full I pour off the water and slop it on a big plaster batt and then wedge it back into balls of clay to be used to make new work. Other types of clay get used as the bases for slips but even I have to resort to throwing some bits away when there won't be enough to make anything worthwhile.
I also bulk buy or buy my clay from a large 'clay dump' to reduce individual delivery costs.
Wrapping and bags - Most of my friends provide me with 'posh' good quality buy that I can reuse at events when someone buys my work (I realise that my friends buy a lot of clothes during the year). I still love bubble wrap but now reuse, reuse and reuse my own and anyone else's wrapping- each time its gets a little bit smaller and a little bit flatter. It is supplemented by new fancy paper wrappings but they do collapse and fall to bits quicker.
Newspapers - Friends provide me with newspapers and if I am lucky they don't always do all the crosswords so that can be a distraction from working! I crumple up newspaper to act as internal supports when making sculptures and use the paper to help lift a flat slab from one surface to another without sticking.
Equipment- my most useful and trusted equipment are a few old kitchen forks, boned knives, grandma's rolling pin and some old white tiles that I use to put small pots and tiles on to carry them around.
In fact everything that goes into the home recycling bin is first thought about whether it will make a nice mould, stamp out or cut a shape, have an interesting texture or hold some liquid/slip/stain or glaze.
My car is not electric but at least it is not diesel.
