As another Earth day passes by, it reminds us gently of the rude awakening we are in for. Many of us-artists, crafters are committed to sustainability as we are to exploring our creative side by dabbling in DIY Projects. There are many occasions when we need to summon our creativity in order to come up with a more sustainable solution for a common product. Most of us who are conscious about our carbon footprint in our regular day to day life, and are small business supporters or owners, tend to upcycle/recycle and try and reduce what I like to call the ‘Retail Junk’.
This is where I expect you to ask me, “What is Retail Junk?” It is the incessant need to buy new things that will be used may be once or at the most three to four times and eventually find its way into a landfill during the next spring cleaning. Instead of giving into the urge to buy new things for gifting or using, what I have always been a big fan of was to indulge into more ‘do-it-yourself’ -upcycling projects.
While one may think of do-it-yourself projects as largely sustainable, it really actually depends on the materials we use. (Yes, it’s true). If all the raw materials are virgin (read brand new), it may not be the most eco-friendly option. However, if you’re upcycling or using second-hand materials it's definitely a wiser and greener option. Before you end up buying raw material indiscriminately for your new DIY project, pause and rethink.
If you are a hobby artist, DIY crafter, or even a profesional crafter you will know that the flavour of the month for the last many months is Resin Casting,
What is commonly used to manufacture durable casts, flooring, and worktops, has become the new “have to try DIY” for every self-respecting crafter around the globe. You Tube, Instagram, Pinterest, are flooded with reels and videos to provide the much-needed inspiration.
Jewelry, coasters, ashtrays, dog tags, keychains, bookmarks, hair clips, encased dried and pressed flowers, and what have you, can all be made with resin or epoxy resin in the do-it-yourself world. The popularity and accessibility of this new crafting medium also leaves us DIYers with questions we must consider
1. Whether this new type of art is truly sustainable, biodegradable, and environmentally friendly?
2. Are we causing more harm to ourselves and our environment in our creative frenzy?
3. How can we be more responsible crafters with Resin?
Is Epoxy Resin Art Harmful?
1. The most popular DIY resins are Epoxy resin and Artist two-part resin. Epoxy resins are mostly known for their negative effects on human health. Inhaling Epoxy resin vapours can cause asthma in those who do not wear suitable protective equipment. If ingested the chemicals employed in epoxy resin can induce cancer and genetic abnormalities.
2. They can cause allergies and dermatitis when they come in contact with the skin.
3. Artist resins come in two varieties: reactive and non-reactive. When non-reactive varieties are blended, they emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) after a chemical reaction, which can leach over time. If you put cheap epoxy resin in water, it will leach chemicals. This is bad for your health and at the same time bad for the environment.
4. Because these goods are composed of plastic, biodegradability is a major concern. The majority of the Synthetic resin, in fact, is not biodegradable. Synthetic resins (not natural resins), might persist indefinitely in the environment, leaching chemicals and emitting carbon dioxide on a regular basis for hundreds of years.
5. Synthetic resins are created from fossil fuels, which means they will take an eternity to decompose. It's one of the reasons they're not eco-friendly.
So, as an artist or DIYer and a fan of Artist Resin, how can we use this product responsibly while reducing the negative impact on the environment?
1) Never put anything into the water supply. Ensure that we never ever dispose uncured resin. Most definitely not someplace from where it can reach our water supply.
2) If each almost empty bottle has additional resin or hardener at the bottom, open them both and place one upside down on top of a new bottle of Resin and Hardener respectively. Ensure that the lips of the bottles are in contact. Wrap the tape around the mouths and let it sit for a few a few hours. This ensures that no liquid substance escapes. This way we ensure that no Resin/Hardener are left over in the old bottles. Now these bottles can be disposed off easily.
3. For our own personal safety, always use proper respirator masks, eye gear. A good idea is to use chemical resistant gloves, and protective clothes when handling epoxy resins to avoid contact and splashing.
4. Since the finished product is plastic and as we all know, that this renders the product non bio degradeable, my suggestion would be to use it sparingly. Only use it in projects that absolutely require us to use it. On only highly customized projects and in cases where nothing else works. Use Resin sparingly to keep the effects from harming ourselves and the generations to come.
At the end of the day, as artists we all believe, our art is our source of happiness. Let us be responsible and not make our art a source of misery for the Environment, the Earth and the People living in it.