"Detoxing" Your Art

Green living is more than just a space issue: It is a lifestyle choice. Artists are often exposed to many hazardous and toxic materials. Minimizing your exposure and/or production of these substances is important, as it impacts both you and the environment. 

Two ways to green up your artistic process:

1. Choose equipment, materials, production methods and products wisely, and
2. Participate in material reuse and recycling programs.

Many products and practices that are toxic to both you and the environment can be either substituted for less harmful materials and methods, or eliminated altogether. Even after you change materials, you must give yourself time to learn how to use the products.

For information on product alternatives, download one of the following attachments, provided by the Center for Safety in the Arts:

• Ceramic Substitutions
• Drawing and Painting Substitutions
• Fiber and Textile Substitutions
• Graphic Art Substitutions
• Metalworking Substitutions
• Photography Substitutions
• Printmaking Substitutions
• Sculpture Substitutions
• Woodworking Substitutions

In addition to these charts, the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Health in the Arts' on-line library also offers information on safer art substitutes and artist health-related issues in general. The City of Tucson, Arizona’s Health and Safety in the Arts Website features a database on safe handling and substitutions for art materials. Also review Chapter 23: Safe and Healthy Art Spaces.

Besides incorporating eco-friendly equipment, materials and production processes into your practice, you can also participate in material exchange programs, which allow you to exchange and/or purchase materials that are considered by-products or waste from particular industries. For example, a textile production company might have excess fabric cuts it needs to sell,  or a paper manufacturer may have misprinted stationery.

Three of the primary exchange programs in the Chicago area are the Industrial Material Exchange Service (IMES), sponsored by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency; the Creative Reuse Warehouse, and Chicago Freecycle Network.

• IMES acts as clearinghouse for companies that want to recycle or purchase waste by-products, off-spec items, hazardous and non-hazardous materials and overstocked, damaged or unwanted materials. Items have included fabric scraps available in 1,000-lb. bundles, burlap sacks, wood for framing, aluminum metal sheets and even marshmallow scraps! IMES produces a bi-monthly newsletter, with items for request and sale for its subscribers. For more information on how to participate, contact IMES at 217-782-0450, or sign up on their Website. Exchange programs also operate outside of Illinois.

• Creative Reuse Warehouse: A component of the Resource Center, a Chicago-based nonprofit recycling and reuse organization. In addition to running a variety of community based initiatives, the Warehouse collects and sells overruns, rejects and by-products that business and industry discard as waste.
  
  Prices are low, with some items sold for $1 per brown grocery bag. Items for sale have included scrap wood and metal, misprinted cosmetic jars, park benches, and fabric samples. For more information on how to participate, contact 773-821-9230 or visit the Creative Reuse Warehouse at 222 East 135th Place.

• Chicago Freecycle Network: Connects individuals who are throwing away goods with others who seek them. Provides opportunities to trade in a variety of goods such as furniture, clothing, appliances, computers and everything in between. To participate in the exchange, all items must remain free.

TIP: Review Chapter 23: Safe and Healthy Spaces and Chapter 21: Utilities for information on how to properly dispose of hazardous art waste.