The maker-space movement is part of a progressive shift to a more environmentally responsible society. When people make things locally, and sell them within their own community, it reduces fossil fuel freight, a significant contributor to global climate change.
And it goes deeper than that. The fossil fuel economy is driven by consumption of material objects. When objects are made with enjoyment by ‘participants’ rather than simply ‘consumers’, attitudes to consumption and the material world change. We pay for the quality of our experiences, for the beauty of both the process and the end result.
We want to support this transition towards sustainable living in everything we do.
We do what we can to limit waste in the studio.
We have a three bucket cleaning system to reduce the amount of water that goes through the studio during daily use.
We reclaim and recycle as much clay as we can.
We restrict the use of toxic substances within the studio.
We ask our members and students to reclaim and recycle their own clay to reduce pressure on the studio systems.
The vitrification of clay in the kilns is an irreversible process. It is wasteful to send things through the kilns if you have no use for them, both in terms of energy and materials. We ask our members and students to only fire items that they want to keep.
We are conscious of ceramic waste produced in our studios from broken pots or discarded artworks. We try to keep our waste down to a minimum by giving our left behind or forgotten works a new home either for glaze testing purposes or donated to a local makers to grind down and reconstitute into works of design and art. HOST (the Home Of Sustainable Things) is one such endeavor who we have teamed up with to reduce our carbon footprint and give new life to our otherwise environmentally distressing waste. More information about their mission on their website.