Sustainability Pledge

Ten Ways I can Help Save the Planet as an Artist:

1. Be a Voice: 

I pledge to continue to be an art activist. I will continue to make art about the earth and the evolving climate crisis, using my work to educate and communicate the urgent need for change.

2. Be an Ally: 

I promise to bring attention to the work of those who are fighting the climate crisis. By doing this, more people will become aware of what is being done, what can be done and how we can support these efforts.  To solve the climate crisis, we need nations and their governments to make significant policy changes. We need major corporations to commit to environmental sustainability. We must support those doing good for the earth and remove our support from those who are not.

3. Uphold Values: 

I promise to maintain sustainability standards in my work even if faced with financial pressures to lower those standards. I will do the research and partner with truly sustainable companies. I commit to thoroughly investigate the companies I partner with to make sure their commitment to the environment is real. I will also commit to using materials and methods in my art that are climate conscious and sustainable.

4. Design Classics, Not Trends: 

I promise to strive to design classics, not trends. Trends get a great deal of hype. Products born from “the next greatest thing” or this season's colors are trashed once the next trend rolls around. Trends  are not only unsustainable, but they lack self-confidence. We know what we like. We know what we will keep around for a long time or wear forever. Those are the classics. Classics are not the same for everyone, but my classics target a specific market, not unlike myself. I strive to design art that has staying power. Permanence is sustainable.

5. Give Joy: 

To quote Ingrid Fetell Lee quoting Irish philosopher John O’Donohue, “Each of us is an artist, because everyone is involved, whether they like it or not, in the construction of their world.” This means we can choose a more joyful world through what we do, what we make, what we buy, and who we interact with. By creating art, I pledge to bring joy to the lives of those who interact with it. When an object brings someone joy, it has more staying power. It gives that person a greater sense of ownership and in turn a higher level of care for that object, making it more permanent (see pledge #4).

6. Give Meaning: 

We value objects that have a story behind them. The stories bring back memories. They help us identify with others and can make us feel part of something bigger than ourselves. I pledge to share myself and the stories behind my work . My art is personal, and if people know the background and context of the art, then the art will be more relevant and special to them thereby making it more permanent (see pledges 4 & 5!).

7. Produce Useful Products of Quality:

I pledge to partner with companies that make products that we truly need and are of high quality. For example, I pledge to not produce single-use plastic products. Quality is essential because my products and art should last a long time. 

8. Live a Climate Conscious Life:

I pledge to continue to live a climate conscious life and teach others how they can do the same. I will share my research and successes regarding my sustainable choices.

9. Stay in my Lane:

I pledge to “stay in my lane”. I will do what I do well and will not try to be something that I am not. I am an artist (not an engineer or a politician!), and I will create my art in harmony with who I am.

10. Don’t Sell Out!

It may be tempting, for financial reasons, to partner with a company that I don’t believe in or to sell products have a short lifespan, but I pledge not to do this.  I will not “sell out”!