Greening the Studio

Often I worry about the environmental aspects of my artwork. Is what I make worth the impact of running a studio. I do try and keep everything to a minimum.

Here are a few of my efforts:

My studio is at home, no car rides or energy used to get to work. Services such as telephone and internet do double duty for home and office.

Order supplies in bulk. This keeps down energy and money used to ship supplies. It helps me and the environment.

I try to conserve materials and minimize waste.

I have been cutting back on traveling, trying to sell more work through the internet, and teach more local classes. I know that plane trips really hurt my yearly carbon footprint.

I do not air condition the studio.I just adjust working times in the summer to match the cooler parts of the day. A fan is my best friend in august.

My newest tinkering has come up with this solar air heater. It pulls warm air from the studio and uses the sun to heat it up about fifteen degrees and returns it to the studio. It is still a work in progress, and I hope to add a solar powered fan to move air through the system. Right now the fan is on a timer that is set according to the sunny times of the day.

One Meal at a Time

I find lately that cooking is a lot more fun, when I try to put an environmental slant on it. Lately I have been trying a lot more vegetarian dishes, and sourcing more local foods. Going to the grocery store has become a scavenger hunt, trying to trim the miles that my food has traveled. Our local chain (Ukrops) is good about labeling the Virginia based produce.

Here are a few hints:

Buy the choice farmed closest to home

Buy the least processed item, ex. whole wheat versus bleached white flour

Try to buy in season, if it is not is season, then it had to of been trucked in from California or Florida ( if not another country)

Minimize Meat consumption- I am not ready to give up meat, but I do buy organic meat from Virginia's farms when I can. ( I can highly recommend the Ground Bison from Georgetown farms in Northern Virginia)

Do not be afraid to experiment with new recipes. Once a week I make some new dish we have never tried, So far this year we have had Chick Peas Romescu, Quinoa and Cashew Stir Fry, And a new Broiled Tofu just last night. For those of you looking for a little inspiration, try the new Veginomicon cookbook. It is really well written and has tons of recipes. There has got to be something in there for everyone.

If you have kids, let them help pick the menu. You do not want to overwhelm them. Give lots of praise for trying all this new stuff with you.

Take full advantage of local Farmers Markets, the food is always in season and fresh at these venues.

For some information on our current food system pick up a copy of Omnivore's Dilemma and Animal,Vegetable, Miracle

Now get out there and change the world with your eating habits, one meal at a time.