The Dirt Journal

Pottery Info for Hobby Potters, Ceramic Artists, Production Potters and everyone in between.

How to Be a More Environmentally Conscious Potter

As in every industry, it has become extremely important to look at our day-to-day practices in the studio and discover how we can become more environmentally conscious potters.

Although purchasing pottery from a small-batch potter at your local craft market would seem like it would have minimal impact on your carbon footprint, there are some surprising aspects of pottery that are detrimental to the environment.

How is Pottery Bad for the Environment

Carbon emissions generated from running a kiln

Whether your kiln is electric or gas, these giant ovens are energy sucking vampires. They need to reach extremely high temperatures and maintain this heat for very long periods of time.

According to Soul Ceramics, “A kiln’s power consumption is largely dependent on its size and design. Smaller kilns that operate on a 120-volt standard household outlet will typically draw between 1.5 and 1.8 kilowatts whereas a medium-sized kiln will draw around 5 kW or 8 kW.”

8kW is the equivalent of heating 161sq feet of your home for the entire duration the kiln is running. Based on this, you can see how cost and energy usage can add up over time.

Pottery Wastage

Like any skill, in order to be good at something, you have to be bad at something. This means creating a lot of ugly, non-functional pots before you start to hone your craft.

There’s also a lot of waste in the pottery making process even as you have more control over your output. To minimize your waste, keep reading below and learn how to be a more environmentally conscious potter.

Clay Mining

Photo by Dominik Vanyi on Unsplash

Clay is a natural resource consistently of a variety of minerals. It is extracted from the earth, taken from open pits. Heavy machinery, that use fossil fuels for power, are used to pull the clay from the earth.

With the increased popularity of ceramics and the accessibility to commercial clays, clay shortages have become common across North America in 2022. This is a result of increased demand without the resources available to fulfill the demand.

How to be a More Environmentally Conscious Potter

Opt for Cone 6

When deciding what clay, glazes and techniques you want to use, consider how these choices will impact the environment and also your electric bill.

Opting for glazes and clays that require running your kiln to cone 10 are going to require more energy usage than if you were running your kiln at cone 6.

Cone 6 is the most popular time/heat distribution because you can achieve amazing results using high quality clay while using less energy. Cone 6 clays generally include stoneware and porcelain – both very durable and popular clay bodies.

Re-use your water

Fresh water makes up just 1% of the world’s total water supply. Wasting fresh water decreases the total water supply available. This also requires excessive energy to process, clean and re-use fresh water so that it can be routed back into water systems. This ultimately contributes to your carbon footprint and negatively impacts the environment.

Water is used in all aspects of ceramics and as a result, the tap in my studio was running often. This was until I started working as a ceramics instructor where the studio was very conscientious about water usage. Not only did they minimize water being drained down the sink to minimize strain on the clay trap, but they also saw water as a finite and valuable resource.

With dozens of students circulating in and out every day, throwing and cleaning, it felt like the tap was constantly running. When you start hearing clean water going down the drain all day and factoring in potters across the world and the water usage required, the mere thought is shocking.

To become a more environmentally conscious potter, is it crucial to minimize water usage. In my studio and the studio I teach, we have many systems and rituals in place that help minimize water usage

Photo by Anna Shvets: https://www.pexels.com/photo/tools-and-bowl-of-water-prepared-for-clay-modeling-5641985/

Way to Re-use Water in Your Pottery Studio

Re-use your throwing water

Use your throwing water until it is literally slip. Then, wait for the clay in your water bucket to settle to the bottom. Using a sponge, sponge off the water and add the water to a new bucket to be used in throwing again. Add the clay settled at the bottom to your slop bucket for reclaiming later.

Use excess to water your houseplants

Having a little clay is your water can actually be great for your houseplants. This is because clay contains many minerals and nutrients that may not be present in your plant’s soil. This will make you an environmentally conscious potter and gardener.

Reclaim your clay

Although it is rare, I have heard of some potters who don’t reclaim their clay. Not only is clay expensive overtime, it is a valuable resource taken from the earth. I prefer reclaimed clay to clay out of the bag because it is softer and easier to work with. I will add soft reclaim to fresh-out-of-the-bag clay so I can soften it up.

Don’t be lazy. Reclaim and respect your clay.

Just toss that piece – it’s not going to get better with glaze

Photo by Ludo Poiré on Unsplash

Sometimes when we have thrown and trimmed a piece, we may have developed an attachment to it. Despite a piece having obvious flaws, this attachment may cause us to to decide to bisque fire a piece that is already doomed. This means we are deciding to continue putting time and resources into something that is likely going to end up in a landfill.

Instead of making the irreversible decision to fire a piece, reuse the clay while it is still greenware and create something great with it. The time and effort you put into the making process was not wasted because the learning process is far more valuable.

Of course, mistakes still happen. Maybe a piece developed a new crack in the bisque fire or the glaze misbehaved in the final firing. These are instances sometimes out of our control but we can still decide to make a decision that is best for the environment, which brings me to my next point:

Someone might want it

Although I have deep respect and admiration for artists who hold themselves to such a high standard that they will throw a beautiful piece into a giant ceramics graveyard in their backyard because of the tiniest flaw (*cough* Adam Field *cough*), the environmentalist in me shutters at the thought. There I said it. I questioned master potter Adam Field in my blog. I’m a wildcard.

As I mentioned above, hold yourself to your highest standard before bisque firing. However, if something goes wrong during bisquing/glazing but the piece is salvageable, please don’t throw it in a trash heap. Unless you plan to make mosaic with it, fired pottery that is glazed takes a very long time to break down and often ends up in a landfill.

Instead, post it for free on Facebook marketplace, leave it on the sidewalk in front of your house (leave a little note if it isn’t food safe if applicable) or include it in your next sale at a discounted price. While we may see a flaw, someone else may see the value and feel excited to own your work.

If it can be put to use, I argue this should be the first choice.

Share tools, equipment and resources with your local pottery community

There are so many pottery tools already in existence. Instead of choosing to purchase a new tool you’ve never tried before, ask a potter in your community if they have one you can borrow, rent or have.

Don’t have a pottery community? I beg to differ! With the prominence of social media in pottery, it’s easier than ever to find potters in your area. An Instagram DM is actually how I got my job as a pottery instructor. Not only will you become a more environmentally conscious potter, you will make those around you one too!

Also check Facebook marketplace, Kijiji, or eBay for used pottery tools in your area. It is common to see people retiring from pottery that will put their entire studio up for sale online for dirt cheap (kiln, wheel, everything!). I actually have an alert setup on Facebook marketplace when someone posts something containing the phrase “pottery”.

If you must buy new, opt for the energy efficient option

If the item you are looking for isn’t available in your community and you are really in need of this thing – your only option is to buy new. However, as technology evolves there are so many fantastic energy efficient options to have in your pottery studio.

  • Energy Efficient Kilns
  • Non-Plastic Wheel Bats (Opt for wood – this is a natural material that will break down over time!)
  • Kick Wheel – Take it back a century

Now it might seem like I’ve gone too far. Like who is this granola chick telling me to get a kick wheel to save energy. I agree – this is not necessarily the point I want to make. However, it is interesting to note that pottery has been around far longer than high-efficiency kilns or even electricity.

It is humbling to remember that the pottery we create will outlive us and we don’t need the fanciest tools to make incredible work.

Save your glaze remnants to make a Surprise Glaze

Similar to saving water, all the little scraps of glaze that you scrape off a pot can be reused.

In the Sue Macleod’s community Facebook group, I saw a user post a picture of a gorgeous pot that they called their “glaze brush cleaning cup”. Every time they used a paint brush to paint glaze, instead of washing the glaze off and rendering it useless, they would wipe the brush on a tester cup. Eventually, when the cup was fully covered in glaze, they fired it and the result was amazing.

My studio mate and I also keep a small bucket filled with a bit of water and scrape glaze dust off into this bucket. Once the bucket is relatively full with enough glaze to paint on a bowl or cup, we use the mystery glaze and see how it turns out.

This is a great use of flawed pieces that are bisqued. You could inadvertently create a master piece out of the scraps you were going to throw away.

If you found this post on How to Be a More Environmentally Conscious Potter helpful, try out these methods in your studio and let me know what works for you!

For other posts that potters can relate to, check out the post Pottery Mistakes Every Potter Can Relate To.

Sources

How is wasting water bad for the environment? (slate.com)

How to Calculate The Cost of Firing A Kiln | Soul Ceramics

Kristen

Kristen is avid hobby potter, the author behind The Dirt Journal and the potter behind Garden of Weeden Ceramics. She has been playing and experimenting with clay since 2018 and loves to learn and share anything ceramics related. You can find some of her work on her Instagram @gardenofweedenceramics.

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