Water is Life
Without water, we don’t survive. It’s life, it’s everything.
Avoiding water pollution should be at the top of our list of priorities when it comes to taking care of the environment and ourselves. We all have a part to play.
Why is This Important?
Despite what we might be told, acrylic paint is not non-toxic.
Scientifically speaking, acrylic is a polymer. It’s not water-soluble, which means that when it’s combined with water, the molecules don’t dissolve, they just move further apart from each other. This means that the acrylic (aka microplastic) still exists in the water.
Most communities have a sewer treatment system, but they are not equipped to remove microplastics like those found in acrylic paint.
Personally, I have a septic tank, which has a leach field. When any liquid enters the tank, it slowly seeps into the leach field, entering the ground water and flowing down the mountain. This means that if I were to pour my paint water down the drain, it would end up in the lake and streams at the base of the mountain and eventually into the fish we eat. The lake that serves my community also provides water for the southern half of BC, Idaho, Washington and Oregon.
We might think that the choice to pour paint water down the drain is a harmless one, but when you zoom out and look at the big picture, it actually has a much greater impact. Myself and all of the people in these communities would essentially be eating the paint I poured down the drain. And you likely are too.
Wars are currently being fought over water, and they have been for a long time.
Places are being abandoned because of the lack of water.
Many First Nations communities still don’t have clean drinking water.
And here we are, just pouring microplastics down the drain.
My Personal Practice
I currently use acrylic paint, resin and polymer clay. These are all types of plastic - either fossil-fuel driven or plant derived. While I would love to leave acrylic paint behind forever, my health does not allow me to work with oil paint (which has its own environmental impact to be aware of). So, I have practices in place to avoid polluting the water.
At a basic level, I don’t use a lot of water in my studio or house. We have prioritized and installed low flow systems wherever we can.
I have a 4L jug in my studio that I fill with water for my art, and I go through it about once per month. I try really hard not to go through more than 1L per week, and I’m usually successful, even when I’m painting often.
To dispose of my paint water, I have an evaporation system built into my studio. How it works is I take an empty tote bin and pour the water that needs to be evaporated into it. Then, I take the screen from a window and lay it on top. I have a fan close to the tote that helps speed along the evaporation process.
This means I’m not pouring paint water down the drain or outside onto the ground.
An evaporation system is very easy to implement, and is worth trying if you like to paint with acrylics.
My Wish for Other Artists
I highly encourage other artists to do some investigating.
Craft paint is an ecological nightmare from its conception onward. The pigments are made from toxic minerals like cadmium and cobalt that need to be mined. The process to make the paint itself creates harmful water waste.
If you’re still pouring your paint water down the drain, please reconsider. If you’re waiting until your paint has dried, it’s best to seal it in a box, label it as craft paint and dispose of it properly.
Did you know that you can look up the acrylic paint manufacturers you buy from and see what their environmental practices are? You can also see how they suggest you dispose of their paint and paint water.
It’s up to us to make an effort to learn about our impact and then make an active choice to reduce it. Even perusing Wikihow is better than nothing. I believe doing anything less than that is negligence. It damages and disrupts the landscapes and ecosystems that so many of us love to paint.
I get it - Artists want to art. But whenever we create something, we have a responsibility as citizens on this planet to make sure we’re not hurting each other, our future generations and all the plants and animals that share this earth with us.
Water is too valuable. No one can live without it. Be intentional about the legacy you want to leave behind.