Earth Month Part 3
Gathering Materials
Before outsourcing materials, consider minimizing your waste by getting creative with the resources already at hand and repurposing objects throughout your process.
- Before purchasing brand new materials, consider visiting secondhand art stores such as SCRAP in San Francisco. You can also source recycled paints from the local disposal facilities, such as the SFRecology Center.
- Plan ahead upon purchasing, ensuring that you only buy what you need to complete a project. Buying too little of a product may result in (single-use plastic) packaging waste, while buying too much of a product may be a waste of resources.
- When purchasing, read warning labels and avoid materials with toxic chemicals (ex: cadmium, formaldehyde, lead, manganese, trichloroethylene, xylene, and cobalt). Many paints, spray paints, thinners, solvents, and solvent-based markers release harmful Volatile Organic Compounds. VOCs are toxic chemicals that have short- and long-term adverse public health and environmental effects through off-gassing into the air and contaminating water and soil.
- Consider purchasing water-based paints (acrylic + latex), plant or mineral-based pigments with low or zero-VOC options or other non-toxic options. Beware that acrylic, polyurethane, polyester, or silicone paints contain plastic, adding to microplastic pollution.
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Properly Disposing of Materials
When it is time to get rid of art supplies, give them away to other artists, community organizations or schools, second-hand stores like SCRAP, or set up a free table in your neighborhood. Lastly, be mindful of the ways you dispose of materials - improper disposal of art supplies leads to further contamination of the water and soil.
- How to dispose of paints, solvents, spray paints, thinners, and turpentine
- If the containers are empty or completely dried out, clearly communicate the state of the product by taking off the lids, labeling the cans “empty” or “dry,” and/or crushing the cans to show it is empty. Then place it in your home or business’ black Recology trash bin.
- If the container has a small amount of residue, meaning less than ¼ of an inch, let it completely dry out and then dispose of it using the method above.
- If you have more than ¼ of an inch of liquid, do not use the drying method. Instead, seal it well and take it to the hazardous waste facility.
- Watch out for oil paint, as the top layer is often dried with a crust but the bottom is still liquid; in this case, take it to the hazardous waste facility. Only dry/dispose of it yourself if there is a very thin residue left in the container.
- To properly communicate the state of your spray paint cans, remove the cap and nozzle to let the garbage workers know they are emptied/dried.
- If your acrylic/latex paint has been sitting there, you haven’t used it, and it eventually dries up as a solid (hard as a rock), use the method above.
- Hazardous waste facilities
- In San Francisco, there are plenty of locations where you can drop off paints, and individuals can even schedule a free pick-up if they have more than one item by emailing hhw@recology.com. See more information here (click under the “paint” section specifically).
- How to dispose of wash water or solvent-paint water
- In general, try to minimize the amount of water used when washing brushes, and consider reusing paint liquids for underpainting.
- For the wash water of water-based paint (acrylic/latex), let the water sit to have the solids/sludge/goo fall to the bottom of the container, separating from the water. Decant out the water on the top and put the water down the drain. Finally, let the remaining solids fully dry and dispose of them with the same method described above. For more information on removing water-based paint solids from rinse water, click here.
- For oil-based and solvent-paint water, save it all in a container and take it to a hazardous waste facility.
The information above was sourced from professionals at the SFRecology Center. If you have any further questions, please contact hhw@recology.com.
We hope this information is helpful to you as it was to us! If you have any practices of your own, we would love to hear from you at info@building180.com.
- Building 180