On Friday, March 11 my new Environmental Collection launches. Some of my goals this year are to reduce waste, reduce electricity, and promote eco-friendly shipping.
In this new collection:
1) I am using recycled clay. I have clay scraps left over from completed projects, as well as clay pieces that might have broken before firing. I've combined these dried clay scraps with my old throwing water (that contains slips at the bottom), re-hydrated that clay, let it dry out slightly, and wedged together. I've recycled over 100 pounds of clay for this collection.
2) I am using every last drop of glaze! Many of my pieces have dried glaze bits as decoration. These glaze bits are left over from the bottom of finished glaze jars. I also have many glaze wipe-off pieces, where I make sure to use all the glaze from my brushes, rather than wash it down the drain.
3) Most of these pieces are single fired, which reduces electric usage. Double firing is more popular in today's ceramics: A first bisque fire (which takes 10-12 hours) and a second glaze fire (which takes 8-12 hours). I've combined these steps into one single fire (which takes about 12 hours total).
4) As always, I use eco-friendly packing materials. No plastic, only paper, which can be reused, recycled or composted. On rare occasions I will re-use plastic packing materials, that have been sent to me, rather than throw out. I encourage everyone to reuse or recycle all the packing materials that are sent to them.
5) For this collection I am paying for carbon offset shipping. Carbon offset shipping is done when you compensate for carbon emitted through operations and transportation.
6) I am also donating 10% of profits from this collection to the Environmental Defense Fund. You can read more about edf.org here.
If you have questions or additional suggestions, please let me know!