Material Innovations

Most people have done ceramics at one point in their lives.  I have been working with and learning about it since I was young.  The possibilities of form intrigue me the most.  Ceramics has a history which spreads across many disciplines – pottery, sculpture, tile and brick industries have all come from ceramic use and knowledge.  It all shares the same source from the earth though.  I use a high fire stoneware clay body to make my work.  Below is a sample recipe from Ceramics Monthly December 1995.  It is similar to what I use.  Most distributers tend to keep their formulas a secret for some reason. I find this a little funny in the ceramic industry, but whatever. Each item comes in a dry powder or mineral form, of which, when added together with water, makes clay.

Stoneware Clay Body

(Cone 10)                                     100%

Custer Feldspar 12.3                     Pacer Minerals, Custer, South Dakota

6 Tile Clay 09.5                              Dry Branch Kaolin, Georgia

Cedar Heights Goldart 19.8        Cedar Heights Clay, Southern Ohio

Cedar Heights Redart 03.5          Cedar Heights Clay, Southern Ohio

Hawthorne Bond Fireclay 07.9  Missouri Fire Clay, St. Louis, Missouri

Kentucky Ball Clay (OM 4) 19.8  Mayfield, Kentucky

H.C. Spinks Foundry Hill Creme 19.8  H.C. Spinks Clay Company, Inc., Paris, Tennessee

Flint          05.6

Fine Grog 01.8

100.00

After the clay is mixed and formed into something, the object is then fired twice in a kiln.  I use an electric kiln for each firing.  The first firing is called a bisque.  The kiln goes up to approx.. 1940 degrees Fahrenheit at this step and can take up to 30 hours.  The second firing is a glaze.  I fire up to approx. 2230 degrees Fahrenheit  in about 8 hours for that step.

This summer I tried to sell my wares outside of a gallery in downtown Portland.  Possibly sales were tough because of location, but the price was cheap.  “Five buck cups!”, was our selling slogan.  Up the street I have the same teacups sell for $20 each in a boutique.

Both are ridiculously low prices when compared the amount of effort and energy it takes to make a finished ceramic item.  It leaves me to consider if it’s worth it.  I suppose if the ceramic objects I am making are considered Art, selling for exorbitant prices then the exchange is some what relative, in a way. But for my smaller works, ones that are designed as functional pottery for instance, I believe it arrogant of me to impose my choice of form in function onto another person.  So, I learned that I also feel uncomfortable charging for my work sometimes.  (I go back and forth, the whole thing confuses me at times.)

I do believe in the value of the exchange though.  But this exchange is one of personal awareness of the user gained thought the acquisition of the piece.  Hence the purpose of design no longer has merit in physical purpose, yet lies in the object as symbol of meaningful relationships.  Value then is considered beyond the monetary toward community based connectivity between individuals.

If we are to understand a finished work of the individual as no longer the point of origin of the object, i.e. “This is not a cup of Jason Lee Starin”, then what is produced is mere refuse of the act of labor.  Stated differently, the organic craft material is always in motion.  Whether it be a freshly pugged block of moist clay, or an intentionally formed teacup. Material, in it’s use, is constantly being manipulated.  From this perspective, can the craft object always be considered material regardless of it’s present form?  Does this perspective impede or give awareness to energy use and regulation?

Although the suburb has existed long before the mid 20^th Century, the end of WWII brought about in America a suburban housing boom unmatched anywhere on the globe. With the mass expansion of the American neighborhood came the need for sprawling infrastructure (sewers, electricity, roads) that covered the landscape. This type of building has created America’s dependency on the vehicle in one light, and developed a style of building that produces an unprecedented amount of waste.  The average amount of construction waste produced by a 2,000 square foot home (current average is 2,500 square feet) amounts to over 4 tons and 50 cubic yards.

Along with the recent decline of the housing market, America has seen an increase in demand for the exact opposite of what the market has given us until now; incredibly small houses.

The challenge seen in the new small house movement is to consider the problems of our past housing practices and demonstrate the ability to practice more sustainable building, packing all the necessities of a house such as bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens and living spaces into as little as 90 square feet, the size of an average suburban bedroom. Although many of the tiny houses are larger than 90sf., the practice touts the bragging rights to being ultra-eco. Because of the philosophy behind small houses, the building practices generally demonstrate reduced waste, chain-of-custody certified products, and the ability to obtain local building materials. The sizes of the homes also contribute to a reduced carbon footprint over the life of the house.

Although the micro size of these huts on wheels may seem ludicrously small to those of us not quite ready to commit to overcoming claustrophobia, the example is all to clear. Smaller means more-efficient, smaller means cleaner and smaller means sustainable.

Cacao tree with fruit pods

I came to chocolate late, the child of hippie parents who thought carob was a reasonable substitute. Fortunately, my chocolate universe expanded as I grew older, but the origins of this lovely substance remained obscure to me. A taste of chocolate from a Belgian exchange student in my high school led to 1) the revelation that Hershey’s would no longer suffice, and 2) the presumption that (good) chocolate must come from Europe. The delightful novel Like Water for Chocolate revealed Mexico as fertile ground for chocolate, but only when I landed in Costa Rica for a college study-abroad program did I learn chocolate’s true nature, when I beheld a long, red fruit dangling from a cacao tree: chocolate grows on trees! The pods contain cocoa beans that are removed, fermented, roasted and eventually processed into chocolate.

Cocoa bean processing in Indonesia

The source of chocolate is more common knowledge these days, especially with the emergence of several fair trade and/or organic chocolate producers that educate consumers through packaging. Several chocolate producers, however, remain illusive about their sources and processes. Although cacao trees originated in Mexico, Central and South America, European imperialists spread the plants around the world and today West Africa is the largest producer of cacao trees, supplying about 70% of the world’s cocoa.

According to Global Exchange, an international human rights organization, the West African cocoa industry is plagued with abusive child labor, forced labor and human trafficking; many major chocolate producers profit off this exploitation, including, perhaps most egregiously, the Hershey Company. Global Exchange’s recent report, The Real Corporate Social Responsibility for the Hershey Company, provides a summary of current efforts at corporate responsibility in the cocoa industry, and a plea for Hershey to identify its sources and commit to a policy to use 100% Fair Trade Certified™ cocoa within 10 years. The report states, “For cocoa, the strongest certification system currently available is Fair Trade” (p. 6). For related info, see Wikipedia’s entry on Children in cocoa production.

My visit to a chocolate processor in Oaxaca, Mexico

The International Cocoa Organization has adopted a new sustainability mandate for the world cocoa economy. Their website defines sustainability as encompassing “social, economic and environmental dimensions in both production and consumption,” and includes a wealth of statistics and information about cocoa production, the world market, international agreements, and even educational videos and Cocoa Q&A.

My favorite organic, fair-trade chocolate at the moment is Theo Chocolate. Theo sources shade grown cacao directly from farmers and grower cooperatives, and commits to social and environmental responsibility in all aspects of the manufacturing process, including offering living wages to suppliers and employees, using green energy sources in their factory and using sustainable packaging. Their chocolate is delicious, to boot.

Global Exchange lists additional sources of fair trade chocolate and other fair trade products.

I guess the main thing about advertising that your product is sustainable is that you stand above the competition, and by doing so, you force the competition also to convert to sustainable practices so they don’t fall behind, which little by little is making sustainability more mainstream.  If you are transparent about thesource of your materials and the manufacturing process, those who hide these facts can be looked at suspiciously, at least by thoughtful consumers.

Image from Zque website featuring the Southern Alps of New Zealand, where the hardy Merino sheep spend much of their time free-range.

It seems many wool producers are giving us the supply chain details these days, some backing up their product with accreditation from Zque, a certification organization that ensures “environmental, social, and economic sustainability, animal welfare (non-mulesed), and traceability back to the source.”

A little handcrafted lifecycle about wool.

I began my search for advertised product life cycle examples by looking at the New Zealand merino wool apparel company, Icebreaker (which has a store here in Portland), and came to find other similar examples such as Ibex and Smartwool.

Icebreaker catalog featuring their system of layering.

Icebreaker has developed a tracing mechanism, appropriately called a “baacode,” posted on all products since 2008, which, once entered in their website, shows you the station or group of stations where the wool for your garment originated.  You can even get to know the rancher, in the case of my provided example baacode, Ray Anderson of Branch Creek, who cared for a particular flock of sheep.

Besides telling us about the source of the wool, and their ethical manufacturing processes, Icebreaker points out how wool is an annually renewable source (vs. synthetics).  As far as end of life cycle, I like what they have to say:

“You can bury your Icebreaker in your garden and it will compost. It’s built to work across all seasons, and last for many seasons – a counterpoint to disposable consumerism.”

The top of the Washington Monument

*

In 1884 the construction of the Washington monument was completed with a six pound aluminum pyramid as its crown jewel.  Although aluminum is the third most abundant element on earth (after oxygen and silicon) in 1884 it was less common than platinum.  Today we extract aluminum oxide from Bauxite ore and convert it to pure aluminum by electrolysis.  This extremely energy intensive process was not invented until 1886.

(An in depth history of aluminum production)

http://www.alunet.net/shownews.asp?ID=490&type=3

Why is this important?

“Aluminium can be recycled over and over again without loss of properties. The high value of aluminium scrap is a key incentive and major economic impetus for recycling. Aluminium recycling benefits present and future generations by conserving energy and other natural resources. It saves up to 95% of the energy required for primary aluminium production, thereby avoiding corresponding emissions, including greenhouse gases.”

The aluminum recycling process:

http://www.azom.com/details.asp?ArticleID=3529#_Recycling

Aluminum Life Cycle

Beverage containers ready for recycling

With a superior strength to weight ratio aluminum is a valuable part of our present day life. The life cycle of aluminum is similar to other nonferrous metals with an initial mining and refining process bringing it to virtually a closed loop existence.  Due to its wide use and recyclability, aluminum has acted as a model for many post industrial and consumer recycling programs.

Mast Brothers Chocolate has created a stir not only in the world of artisanal foods and fine treats, but also in the creative realm where people are socially, ecologically, and highly craft-minded. Their small “factory” in Williamsburg, NY sources cocoa beans exclusively from small family farms and coops from various parts of the globe, including Madagascar, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, and Ecuador. The Masts, Rick and Matthew, currently rely on sustainable shipping practices for receiving their beans, though their next endeavor is to actually sail to the Dominican Republic to personally interact with the farmers and families behind the beans. The brothers (and their small staff) process the chocolate from bean to bar, all in-house.The bars are individually wrapped by hand, using simple foil and fine papers, and are sold either directly to the customer or through small, local markets in the Brooklyn area. The Mast Brothers seem to be doing chocolate the right way, whereas much of the industry is still guilty of some messy practices.

A phenomenal video: The Mast Brothers.

Compare this complete and traceable lifecycle with a bag of Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips (a product I happen to buy an embarrassing amount of), or practically any generic candy bar:

Too much OIL and PLASTIC.

Any given bag contains cocoa from an untraceable source, which has been packed and shipped somewhere to be processed, then presumably shipped to another plant to be made into chocolate chips, then packaged in unrecyclable plastic, then shipped to a distributor, then shipped to a grocery store. The end of this lifecycle results in simply another piece of plastic that ends up in a landfill or the ocean (for sub-par chocolate and nasty practices along the way).

Some of the major movements working as catalysts to clean-up the filthy operations associated with cocoa production (child slave-labor, inadequate compensation, loss of biodiversity, deforestation of rain forests) are the various certification programs, including Fair-Trade, Organic, and Slave-Free. Those in the industry must meet certain requirements if they want to receive a stamp of approval from each of these organizations.

“Fair Trade certification ensures that cocoa farmers receive a fair price for their harvest, creates direct trade links between farmer-owned cooperatives and buyers, and provides access to affordable credit. On Fair Trade farms, slave labor is strictly prohibited and farms are inspected to ensure that Fair Trade standards are being met.”

“Organic foods are farmed without using synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, plant growth regulators, livestock feed, or genetically modified organisms. Instead, organic farmers use sustainable agricultural practices imitating those found in nature such as crop rotation, fertilizing with compost and recycled manure, biological pest control, and mechanical cultivation to maintain soil productivity and control pests. Certified organic foods are grown on farms that use organic and sustainable practices for typically a minimum of 3 years before receiving certification.

Obtaining certification for Slave-Free production of cocoa does not have it’s own separate qualifications, per se, but the farms must adhere to certain standards in order to be considered a slave-free environment.

+A short movie on “blood chocolate” and a brief reading on some of the big brand companies that have started moving towards cleaner practices.

+An exhaustive list of brands of chocolate products that are (mostly) organic and fair-trade.

+Kiss Chocolate Good-Bye: An article on unsustainable cocoa production and the need for better practices in order to become a sustainable and viable livelihood for cocoa farmers again.

+World Cocoa Foundation: A non-profit foundation which helps support responsible, sustainable practices in cocoa-farming around the globe.

+WorldWatch Institute: “Worldwatch focuses on the 21st-century challenges of climate change, resource degradation, population growth, and poverty by developing and disseminating solid data and innovative strategies for achieving a sustainable society.”

+From Coca to Cacao: An article on how many farmers in Peru have successfully been able to shift from farming coca (used to make cocaine) to cocoa beans.

Indian Yellow is a vivacious color that can pop out of a painting. First used in traditional Dutch paintings, some say the creation of the pigment was originally produced in quite an interesting way. The word interesting, is actually an understatement of this production process. According to books, websites, and paint production companies, (such as Color: A Natural History of the Palette, Pigments Throughout the Ages, Golden Artist Color Paints) dedicated to pigment history, starting in the 15th century, and up until the late 1800’s Indian Yellow was said to be made from cattle urine. Cows, and sometimes camels or buffalo, would be fed a mixture of water and rotting mango leaves. Their urine would be collected, and then dried forming hard clumps that could then be mixed with a binder to create this familiar paint.

Luckily for the cows, in the early 20th century, this mode of production came to a halt. “…its departure may have been due to the Indians for whom the torture of sacred animals was against their religion. It also may have been due to British laws that prohibited cruelty to animals”* Since then, the pigment has been synthetically reproduced.

Some skeptics, like Livia Zanna, believe this piss product is a hoax. In her website, Zanna uses chemical reasoning to break the myth of Indian Yellow’s sticky history. She believes that it was probably produced organically, the juices from some (unknown) plant.

As for me, after studying the decline in Indian Yellow’s production, which almost came to a halt in the early 20th Century. I believe in the documented history. From pigments to perfumes, many synthetic products that we use today were originally made from an animal’s bodily secretions. Unfortunately for our furry friends, these were the materials people had to work with. As I further my investigations on pigment production, we will come to learn how humane these processes have really become, and what problems still sit heavily on the artist’s palette.

Jewelry represents the equivalent of 90% of mine production of gold.

Turn to the Dirty Metals Report for more disturbing facts regarding the extraction process.

Dirty Metals Report Summary:
“Details the massive pollution, huge open pits, devastating community health effects, worker dangers and, in many cases, human rights abuses that have become hallmarks of gold and metals mining in countries such as Peru, Indonesia, Ghana and in parts of the United States.”

No Dirty Gold Campaign:
In 2005 the No Dirty Gold Campaign was launched.  It is an international campaign to ensure that gold mining operations respect human rights and the environment.

“The “No Dirty Gold” campaign has persuaded many top jewelry retailers to stop selling gold from mines that cause severe social or environmental damage, but such concerns don’t ruffle the biggest consumer nations, namely India, where a gold obsession is woven into the culture, and China, which leaped past the U.S. in 2007 to become the world’s second largest buyer of gold jewelry.”

In 2009 they signed their 50th retailer and now represent 23% of the US jewelry market.

National Geographic “The Real Price of Gold”:
Provides a narrative on the social injustices of mining and striking photo galleries from mines around the world.
“Under the ancient lottery system that still prevails in the high Andes, known as the cachorreo, this is what passes for a paycheck: a sack of rocks that may contain a small fortune in gold or, far more often, very little at all.”

Ethical Metalsmiths: Connecting People With Responsibly Sourced Materials
They offer this list of responsible mining organizations.

Jewelers and independent makers can source metal from Hoover & Strong who produces a line of Harmony products that meet established certification standards.  They follow Scientific Certification Systems guidelines.

“To bring the benefits of organic food to as many people as possible and serve as a catalyst for positive change.”  Mission statement of Earthbound Farm

For years, on a weekly basis (when the local farmers’ markets are closed for the season), I have purchased Earthbound Farm Organic vegetables, usually baby spinach, arugula, romaine hearts, and/or mixed baby greens.   Investigating the company online, I discovered their deep and broad commitment to sustainability as evidenced by all aspects of “the life cycle” of their products.

The company was founded in 1984 on 2.5 acres in Carmel Valley, California by Drew and Myra Goodman, with an office in their 600 square foot house.  Their first crop was organic raspberries which they sold at a roadside stand.  Twenty-six years later, Earthbound Farm’s organic farming takes place on 35,000 acres by 150 dedicated farmers and holds the distinction of being the largest grower of organic produce in the U.S.  Author Michael Pollan states in
The Omnivore’s Dilemma,“Earthbound Farm as a company arguably represents industrial organic farming at its best.”  Their primary locales include California, Arizona, and Mexico.  Products are also grown in Washington, Oregon, Canada, and Chile.  Their line of produce has more than 100 items, including greens for salads, fruit and vegetables.  YouTube:  Organic:  Protecting What We Cherish is an overview of the company.

Earthbound Farm has been innovative in a multitude of ways.  Here are some examples:  first company to successfully launch pre-washed bagged salads packaged for retail in 1986; run farming equipment, pick-up trucks and a local delivery truck on cleaner-burning bio-diesel; mange pests without the use of chemicals; use post-consumer recycled cardboard for its salad cartons and post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic for its salad clamshell packing (sourced from Packing Plus www.packagingplusllc.com).  In addition, the company gives back to its communities, for example, awarding academic scholarship to high school students who will pursue a career in environmental practices and to children of employees who are college bound or to charities nominated by employees.  Education about organic foods is also a priority.

Facts from the Earthbound Farm website, www.ebfarm.com:  keep 11.2 million pounds of conventional agricultural chemicals out of the environment each year/338,000 pounds of toxic and persistent pesticides; conserve an estimated 1.8 million gallons of petroleum by avoiding use of petroleum based fertilizers and pesticides; organic fields absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas at an estimated rate of 3670 pounds per acre each year – equivalent to taking 7,800 cars of the road annually.

With  all of this new information, I will continue to support and enthusiastically spread the word about Earthbound Farm produce, even though it may not be grown locally, because I like their mission, trust the company’s sustainable practices, enjoy their products, and recycle the packaging when we have finished consuming the healthy, organic food.

I was thoroughly entertained and validated by Dmitri Orlov’s presentation “Social Collapse: Best Practices” about the impending fall of the U.S. empire.  It’s not for the faint of heart to say the least.  But assuming, as Orlov warns, all goes to hell here in 10 years (+/-5), I was inspired to think about what skills might be useful in the anarchy that would follow.  That led me to think about an overlap in possible skills that could be useful in either the business-as-usual scenario we have today or a bleaker one like Orlov’s forecast.

The design challenge is this:  Identify two things and, as in a Venn diagram, identify where they overlap.  To successfully identify this special area is to pin-point what you might consider focusing on indefinitely from this point in your life.  The two components are 1) what are you better at than anyone else you know; and 2) what is an indispensable element (object/skill/tool) of life or culture and can not be categorized as comfort, frivolity, or otherwise non-essential?  Perhaps not a simple task, it seems sensible that to identify your talent (I firmly believe everyone has one) and marry it to a need, then you will survive the collapse, or, in the case of no collapse, predictably prosper.

individual Talent x community Need = The Meaning of Life

For those makers that might be searching for their path/voice/purpose, this could be a valuable exercise. Good luck!