Green Art Supplies Student Action PlanFF

7/27/2019 Green Art Supplies Student Action PlanFF

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Paint It Green: Action Plan for Eco-friendly Art SuppliesBy Tracy Empson and Kate Catlin

INTRODUCTIONAccording to the U.S. Department of Education, the arts are essential to every child's education

1. But

can we make arts education earth friendly? Can a purple crayon really be green? The answer is Yes! Infact, there is a whole rainbow of green art supplies available to help students create artwork thatspleasing to the eye and to the environment.

Though artistic endeavors can involve as many toxic chemicals as a chemistry experiment, students andteachers are often unaware of the hazards these materials pose to their own health and the health of theearth. Many art supplies used in the classroom contain persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic chemicals(PBTs), or can generate or release PBTs into the environment when they are made, used, or discarded

2.

PBTs persist in the environment and accumulate in tissue, increasing in concentration as they movethrough the food chain, posing a risk to human health and ecosystems

3.

Exposure to dangerous chemicals in art supplies can cause acute or chronic illness in children such as:headaches, breathing problems, nausea, burns, lung and kidney damage, and even cancer

4. The adverse

effects of childhood exposure to toxic materials are compounded by childrens smaller size, immatureorgan and immune systems, and higher metabolic rates. These factors lower childrens tolerance forexposure to hazardous materials

5.

Reasons to Use Green Art Supplies:

Benefits for the Environment:o Using non-toxic art supplies reduces the amount of harmful chemicals and toxins that end

up in the environment.o Creating artwork on recycled paper reduces the number of trees that are cut down to

make virgin paper, saving forests and the creatures that call them home. o Reusing old materials saves water and energy that would have been used in the

production of new materials.o Incorporating recycled materials into your art projects reduces the amount of waste that

ends up in landfills. Benefits for Your School:

o `Using non-toxic art supplies makes art education safer for students and teachers. o Incorporating recycled materials into your art projects reduces the amount of new

materials your school needs to purchase for art education programs, saving the schoolmoney.

o Reusing old materials also stimulates creativity, teaching students to look for new usesfor old things.

o Making your own eco-friendly art supplies can be incorporated into art or sciencecurriculum.


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HOW TO START YOUR CAMPAIGN

Have a Clear, Written GoalGoals will provide direction and focus to your group. They will keep you and everyone you work with ontrack, while providing a way to measure how successful you have been. Choose one from thesuggestions below, or write your own.

Ban all toxic art supplies: Get the ACMI Seal of approval on all art supplies used in your school.Attain a written pledge from your Principal or the head of the art department so itsinstitutionalized.

Opt for 100% post-consumer recycled paper: Your masterpiece will look just as good onrecycled paper as it would on virgin paper. So when teachers search for that perfect sketchbook,make sure its made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper. Or, if thats not your style, trypaper made from hemp, a fast growing alternative to trees.

Choose sustainable products made from natural or recycled ingredients: Did you know thattraditional crayons are made from paraffin wax, a petroleum by-product

1? Though these crayons

are not technically toxic, petroleum is a non-renewable resource. A more eco-friendly choicewould be crayons made from soy bean oil. Soy crayons are biodegradable and are made fromsoy beans, a sustainable and renewable resource

2. When you pull out that 100% post-consumer

recycled sketchbook, make sure your pencil is earth friendly too. Look for pencils made fromsustainably harvested wood and recycled newspapers - not dying forests. Before you buytraditional art materials, do your research and find out if theres a greener option.

Incorporate recycled materials into your artwork: Why not try a trash-to-treasure art project?Instead of using new materials for your next art project, use things you might normally throwaway. Dont know what to do with those old newspapers and magazines? Use them to makesome beautiful paper beads. Got milk cartons? With a little creativity, you could have a birdhousethat will have the birds singing. Lose another sock in the laundry? Turn its lonely partner intofriendly sock puppet. The possibilities are endless!

Make your own eco-friendly art supplies: If you cant find the green art supplies youre lookingfor, ask teachers to help you make your own! Cant find recycled paper? Use scrap paper,newspapers, and magazines to make your own paper. Want to get your hands dirty but cant find

eco-friendly finger paints? You can make your own non-toxic finger paints from cornstarch, flour,or even pudding! Brushing up on your water-color skills is easy with earth friendly homemadewater colors. You can be just as creative making your art supplies as you can using them!

Key MessagesYou need key messages for your campaign these will clearly state the problem and a solution toeveryone you talk to. Choose two to five that will be understandable to your peers and administrators. Besure that everyone working on your campaign understands the key messages and is prepared to repeatthem. Here are a few suggestions:

Toxic art supplies affect the health and safety of students and teachers.

These toxins end up back in our environment, which is detrimental to our community.

We can easily switch to non-toxic art supplies without effecting daily routine.

1Crayola.How Crayola Crayons are Made. Retrieved 11 September 2008, from

http://www.crayola.com/factory/preview/factory_floor/crayon_mfg.htm.2

All Soy Products. Soy Crayons. Retrieved 11 September 2008, from http://www.all-soy-products.com/a50-soy-

crayons.php.


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Strategy and Action ItemsThe strategy is how you will get from point A to point green. Without a strategy your efforts will lacksignificance, so planning out your campaign is important from the get go. Depending on the goal, the bestroute might be anything from a grassroots petition, multi-media outreach, or education. Weve provided asample below, follow along or plan your own:

WEEK FOCUS WEEKLY ACTION ITEMS TIPS

1 EducatingYourself

EducateYour

Teachers

BuildLeadership

Research what types of art supplies yourschool uses, and whether any are green. Also,examine if there are large amounts of paper,rubber, or other materials that are simplythrown away by the art department.

Reach out to the art teachers, and explainhow toxic art materials affect your health. Askif they will support a recycled art day, whenstudents could use recycled objects thatwould have ended up in the trash to createworks of beauty.

Delegate Leadership to three students whoare excited about the campaign. One willcoordinate other volunteers, one willcoordinate educational outreach, and one willcoordinate collection of thrown away assortedobjects that could be made into art.

Reach out to local trash artists in the area,and ask if any will come speak to your school.Let your art teachers know you could get aguest speaker, which makes it moreeducational!

o Make sure you aredelegatingresponsibility to buildleadership for longercampaigns!

o If the art teacher wontgo for trashy artduring the school day,solicit your principal tolet students create artafter school.

o Keep in mind that thismay take longer toplan than you think.You want to pull if offsmoothly in order togain your teacherssupport on laterprojects.

2Logistics,Logistics,Logistics

MaterialCollection!

Lock down when and where this day will be.This action item must be done first, as it willdetermine if students will be sculpting,painting, piling, or gluing and how much timethey have to craft. Try to make the event asbig as possible. If you can take over thelunchroom or courtyard, do so!

Start a collection of recycled materials (milkcartons, scrap paper, coffee cans, fast foodpackaging, anything you can think of!)

Reach out to other students and begin to

If youre hitting a wallof no from teachersand administrators,consider holding yourtrashy art day in alocal park. Reach outto local communitycenters to help yourun the event!

Expressing the WHYbehind what you are

SAMPLE SHORT TERM SRATEGY

Action Issue: Greening Your Schools Art Supplies Grade Level: 7-12

Goal:Educate students on the issue of green art supplies and engage at least 75people in a recycled art activity.

OverallStrategy:

Work with teachers to organize a recycled art day in which they are educated onthe toxicity of art supplies and get to use their creative talents to create art out oftrash.

Total CampaignLength

4 weeks (three in planning and logistics)Activism

ExperienceLevel (1-3):

1


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inform them about toxic art supplies, and theirenvironmental alternative. Ask them to ask theart teacher and principal for a BIG recycled-artevent!

doing is immenselyimportant. Teacherswill take you moreseriously, andstudents will respondmore positively.

Make sure yourstudent leaders aredoing their jobs andprovide them support.

3 Logistics,Logistics,Logistics

oPoster the halls (using cardboard orrecycled paper) with information about theupcoming environmental art day, and askyour art teacher to announce it over theintercom.

oMake sure volunteers are ready to set upand run the event. Double check that theyknow what their roles are, when they needto be there, and double check that allteachers and administrators know whatsgoing on.

o Consider passing outflyers, spreading theword lunch table tolunch table personally,or other ways to getthe word out. Gettingthem to the eventmeans a chance tofurther educate themabout the toxic artissue, building for yournext big campaign.

4 GAME TIME!oGet out there in a big way! Blast some

music, have volunteers direct students tothe trashy-art-activity, and have colorfulsigns everywhere.

oBreak it up into multiple stations, one couldbe paper mache-ing recycled paper, onecould make a giant peace sign out of milkcartons, and one could be using granola barwrappers to make head bands.

oEducate on the larger issue.The studentsare certainly there to have fun, but also to

learn about sustainable art and the toxic artsupplies used by the school. Have signsdisplayed about the larger issue, orvolunteers at each station giving studentsthe wrap.

oDocument how fun it was by takinghundreds of pictures of smiling students andasking them to sign a guest book (orpetition) that they want to see the eventEVERY year.

o Keep the week as funas possible.

o Continue to thank andsupport your leadersand volunteers. Afterits all over on Friday,take them out forcoffee or pizza as athank you, and plan tobuild on your success.

Beyond

Build YourMovement

Possible next steps:

Institutionalize the event by asking yourprincipal to declare it a yearly event (or even

monthly). Work with the art teacher to use recycled

paper more often when students aredrawing a draft of their work, and ask herabout possibilities of switching to entirelynon-toxic art supplies.

Build onwith the following6-8 monthcampaign!

Youve gotmomentum! Take abreak, but dont wait

to long to start a newproject or yourenergized volunteerswill get bored and findsomething else to do.High school studentscan be fickle, holdtheir attention!


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MONTH FOCUS MONTHLY ACTION ITEMS TIPS

1EducateYourself

EducateYour

Teachers

BuildLeadership

Research what types of art supplies yourschool uses, and whether any are green.Check the labels. Are these art suppliesACMI certified non-toxic? If you dont know

what the labels or seals on the suppliesmean, check out this guide to interpretingACMI seals. Find out how much green it willtake to green your schools art program.

Reach out to the art teachers, and explainhow toxic art materials affect your health.Talk to your teacher about replacingtraditional art supplies in your classroom withnon-toxic, eco-friendly supplies. Also askwhat the possibility is of getting 100% post-consumer recycled paper for your classroomart projects.

Reach out to your school administrators orart teachers to find out how much money isallocated to arts education each year. Isthere room in the budget for a switch to eco-friendly supplies or will additional fundraisingbe necessary?

Delegate Leadership to three students whoare excited about the campaign. One willcoordinate outreach to a broad and diversebase of students, one will coordinate the filmfestival, and one will be in charge of workingwith administrators.

Educate your peers on the issue by passingout flyers with health concerns and statistics.Pass them out on last day of the month. The

bottom of the flyer should say something liketomorrow, wear everything green in supportof green art supplies! The brighter neon thebetter!

Write a formal, professional letterto yourvice principal. Tell him or her that on the firstof next month, students will be wearing greenin support of green art supplies. Include agreen bandana and invite him or her to wear

Make sure you aredelegatingresponsibility to buildother campaigns!

Make sure your flyersclearly display factsand statistics on toxicart supplies, but makesure you have apersonal appeal aswell. The WHY isalways moreimportant than theWHAT. It may be ok iftheyre a tad dramatic(this is art class weretalking about) butdont go overboard.

Your letter to theprincipal should notbe dramatic. Theletter should be short,courteous,professional, andinformational. Askyour teacher to proofread if necessary.

SAMPLE LONG TERM SRATEGY

Action Issue: Greening Your Schools Art Supplies Grade Level: 9-12

Goal:Replace every art supply in the school with a non-toxic and environmentallyfriendly alternative.

Overall Strategy:Raise awareness about how toxic the school art supplies are, and petition to makea difference!

Total CampaignLength

4-6 monthsActivism

ExperienceLevel (1-3):

2


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it in support. Ask if you can set up a meetingbetween the two of you and the art teacher todiscuss the issue. Include your contactinformation.

2MaintainCommunicati

on

Show YourConcern and

YourNumbers!

Spread theWord

Make a presence on the morning of the first!You and your leaders should be so neon

green people think youre light sticks. If youcan, pass out green light sticks or greenbandanas (donated by a local business?Bought with art club supplies?). For studentsor teachers who missed the messageyesterday and ask about your outfit, pass outthe same flyer with all the information on it.Document with pictures of good outfits.

Talk it Out. During the meeting with yourvice principal, explain your ideas and answerany questions they may have. Make sure thatyou are well prepared for the meeting withinformation on costs and benefits ofswitching to a non-toxic art program. You canalso bring examples of success stories atother schools. Schedule a second meeting atthe end.

Make the hard ask will your school makethe switch to green art supplies? If your viceprincipal says yes, congrats! Throw a party!If your vice principal says no continue toplan meetings and address issues. Work withyour administration, not against! In the meantime - start planning your rally.

Involve everyone! The more people who areinvested in a green art program, the morelikely it will be established and stick. Create

a Green Team of all different people whowant to be involved, such as other students,teachers, parents, or school board members.A good place to start might be your schoolsParent-Teacher Association.

Keep spreading the message!

Expressing the WHYbehind what you are

doing is immenselyimportant. Teacherswill take you moreseriously, andstudents will respondmore positively.

Make sure yourstudent leaders aredoing their jobs andprovide them support.

3Maintain

Communication

Show YourConcern and

YourNumbers!

ChangeStrategies?

Talk it Out: Continue meeting with thePrincipal and addressing concerns.

Plan and execute a five minute green artrally in between second and third period (alaflash mob). Before school, pass out a colorfulflyer with one of your key messages. Subtlytell people that between second and third

period they should run into the courtyard,grab a piece of tape from one of thevolunteers, tape the flyer to a wall, and runout. The alternative to this could be havingbuckets of chalk laid out in the courtyard.Students will rush into the courtyard, spendfive minutes drawing or writing about arttoxins, and then rush out. Keep it fun andpositive!

Consider passing outflyers, spreading theword lunch table tolunch tablepersonally, or otherways to get the wordout. Getting them to

the event means achance to furthereducate them aboutthe toxic art issue,building for your nextbig campaign.

Dont offer tofundraise the firstmeeting. Try to make


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Sell green wristbands or bandanas tostudents and have them wear them everyFriday until all toxic art supplies are replaced.This will also serve as a fundraiser for yournew, healthy supplies!

Make the hard ask again; will your school

switch to green art supplies? If yourprincipal says yes, congrats! Throw a party!If your principal says no Offer to raisemoney equivalent to the discrepancy in cost.Then would he or she make the switch togreen art alternatives in the school?

your school pay for itfirst, fundraising canbe a fun, but it canalso be a hassle!

Make sure no signsor chalk art are

discriminatory or anti-administration.

4-6Make Some

Money!

Fundraise for your green art supplies! Checkout Earth Day Networks fundraising guides, orfollow the following idea.

Advertise a film festival of movies (funny,dramatic, informational) made by students.Preface that its $10 to enter the competition,and $3 to get into the screening. Ask fordonations during the intermission, and hold araffle.

Grow it: Turn it into dinner and a show sell a

spaghetti dinner for an extra $10. Institutionalize the fundraiser by asking

the DECA, marketing teacher, filmanalysis, or video teacher to make it partof his or her curriculum as an addedproject.

Diversify it by making it not just film, buta green art show in general. Auction ofstudents paintings and photography.

Market by putting a notice in the PTSAnewsletter about your efforts, and why youare doing it.

Invite parents, teachers, your dentist Reach Out to local businesses to ask if

they will match the money you make orjust donate to the cause.

Apply for grants! Environmental organizationswill be impressed by your efforts, it will makeyour life much easier if you can get fundingfrom one of them. See the Resourcessection below.

Continue to thank andsupport your leadersand volunteers. Afterits all over on Friday,take them out forcoffee or pizza as athank you, and planto build on yoursuccess.

It will take at least amonth of planning topull off this event; youwant to do it well soyou get all theneeded money!Competency will alsoimpress your schoolsadministration.

Beyond

Build YourMovement

Possible next steps:

When you get a yes, write thank you lettersto your administrators. Then have a (green)party for all your dedicated leaders andvolunteers.

Expand to other schools and paint your wholedistrict green!

Jump in with another of Earth Day Networksgreen your school campaigns!

Youve gotmomentum! Take abreak, but dont waitto long to start a newproject or yourenergized volunteerswill get bored and findsomething else to do.High school studentscan be fickle, holdtheir attention!


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ALLIES AND RESOURCES

You cant do it alone! Below is a list of potential allies, research resources, and success stories.

Potential Allies

Your art teacher. This should be your first contact in making changes to art supplies

Your Principal. All green changes should be institutionalized in case the involved art teachermoves away. This important person is someone you want to impress!

Your health teacher. Who knows better about the benefits of fewer toxins than a health teacher?Get them to help you speak with the administration.

Local artists who use eco-friendly materials. They may be willing to come speak to your fellowstudents and educate them on the issue.

The PTSA. These involved and dedicated parents would be wonderful to tap into if youradministration is on the fence for changing policy. Parents more than anyone are concernedabout the health and safety of their students, and will probably jump to help you if you explain the

issue well.

The Environmental or Outdoors Club. These dedicated kids will surely jump in on anycampaign to kick toxins to the curb!

Resources

The flyer mentioned in the expand your influence strategic plan is a separate sheet below.

More Information

o Avoiding Toxic Art Supplies: To ensure that your art supplies are safe for you and theplanet, look for the Art & Creative Materials Institute (ACMI) seal of approval. An ACMIApproved Product (AP) Seal identifies art materials that are safe and that are certified tocontain no materials in sufficient quantities to be toxic or injurious to humans, including

children, or to cause acute or chronic health problems.3 A guide to reading andunderstanding art supply labels can be found here, courtesy of the Childrens HealthEnvironmental Coalition.

o Childrens Health Environmental Coalition guidelines for art and hobby supplies

o Database of health and safety info for artists

Green Art Supply Stores

o Green Home Environmental Store for everything from recycled construction paper toorganic play-dough.

o EcoArt Works for hemp paper, beeswax crayons and other natural products.

o Dixon Ticonderoga for soybean crayons and other non-toxic art supplies.

o TreeSmart, O'BON, and Smencils for graphite and colored pencils made from rolled,recycled newspapers.

o Stubby Pencil Studio for a variety of green art supplies.

o Eco Art Supplies for sustainable fine arts supplies like oil paints and modeling clay.

3Art & Creative Materials Institute. Safety. Retrieved 10 September 2008, from

http://www.acminet.org/Safety.htm#three


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o EcoPaper for tree-free paper made from post consumer content and other materials likecoffee, mangoes, and bananas.

Books:

o Artist Beware, Updated and Revisedby Michael McCann

o The Natural Paint Bookby Lynn Edwards

o Good Earth Art: Environmental Art for Kidsby MaryAnn Kohl

o Nature's Art Boxby Laura Martin

o Recycled Crafts Boxby Laura Martin

o Fun with Recycling: 50 Great Things for Kids to Make from Junkby Marion Elliot

o Ecoart: Earth-Friendly Art & Craft Experiences for 3 to 9 Year-Oldsby Laurie Carlson

o Organic Crafts: 75 Earth-Friendly Art Activitiesby Kimberly Monaghan

o Nature Craftsby Joy Williams

1U.S. Dept. of Education. The Importance of Arts Education. Retrieved 10 September 2008, from

http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/tools/initiative/updates/040826.html.2

INFORM.Art Departments: Products Containing Persistent, Bioaccumulative, Toxic Chemicals (PBTs). Retrieved

10 September 2008, from http://www.informinc.org/fsart.pdf3

EPA.About PBTs. Retrieved 10 September 2008, from http://www.epa.gov/pbt/pubs/aboutpbt.htm4

Co-op America.Are Art Supplies Toxic? Retrieved 10 September 2008, from

http://www.coopamerica.org/pubs/realmoney/articles/toxicart.cfm5

California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. (2007). Guidelines for the Safe Use of Art and

Craft Supplies. Sacramento, CA: Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. Retrieved 10 September

2008, from http://www.oehha.org/education/pdf_zip/GUIDE2007.pdf

Documents

Green Art Supplies Student Action PlanFF