Ethical Making @ City of Glasgow College
Ethical Making @ City of Glasgow College
Despite studying and working during a global pandemic, students and educators at Scotland’s art colleges persevered to transform their living spaces into inventive workspaces and classrooms. We are thrilled to see both the exciting and innovative work they have produced over the past year and a half and the continued passion of students and educators to incorporate ethical making into their studies.
We have been catching up with our Ethical Making Student Ambassadors from Scotland’s art colleges to learn more about how they and their colleges have adapted and incorporated sustainable practices into their workshops, jewellery making and silversmithing over the past year.
Lindsay Mahood and Bethany Hannah, Ethical Making Student Ambassadors at City of Glasgow College spoke to us about the changes they have made in their practices, what ethical making means to them and the changes that have been made at City of Glasgow College toward sustainable and ethical making.
What changes has your college made this year to be more sustainable/responsible?
Working from home has enabled us to be more sustainable when it comes to 3D printing. Our tutor, David Finlay was printing our 3-D models out at home and then posting them to us so we could continue our development with 3-D design. Instead of using “normal” resin he switched over to using Bio resin on his printer for us. This allowed us to print more prototypes out, without the guilt of using a non-bio resin as the models could be placed in the food waste bin. Doing prototyping like this also meant we only had to print one resin model on the printer, that then was used for the lost wax casting process.
All casting we did this year was done using eco silver, the Scottish Goldsmiths Trust provided much of the grain for this, which encouraged the students to ALL use eco and recycled silver grain.
Other sustainable changes include:
Students being encouraged to use (our own) tea towels instead of blue roll.
Being encouraged to use an anti-bac spray instead of anti-bac wipes. Due to COVID and being lucky enough to get into the studio we are using wipes, but they are biodegradable.
We have recycling bins for metal scrap, and we are encouraged to keep our own silver scrap to melt down later.
Being encouraged to wipe down the skins and bench and then dispose of the metal sweeps into a recycled metal bin, this is taken away and recycled.
The department also ran a schools Eco Jewellery Design Competition, encouraging high school age young people to design a piece of jewellery that reflected the current climate change crisis theme #climatemergency. The winning piece will be designed on CAD, then cast in eco silver by Vipa. Over 300 entries were received for this competition, which means 300 young people looking at eco silver and the climate emergency.
Winning designs by Mirin Scott and Grace Anderson cast in eco silver
Lindsay commented on this project:
“I think if any of them going forward were to join our department, it would be second nature to them to use eco silver and look at a more sustainable working practice from the beginning.”
More information about the City of Glasgow department can be found on their twitter page:
What changes have you made in your own practice?
I now only buy eco silver or recycle silver that I already have.
I use eco washing up liquid for my magnetic polisher at home.
I have been making more paper models, to get the size “right” before moving on to making a sample out of metal.
I have been melting down silver samples, after I have taken pictures.
I have been collecting silver dust from whenever I have been filing or sawing.
What would you like to see happen next year in your college regarding ethical making, or across the education of jewellery generally?
Once people are in the studios more, I think peer to peer learning is what will help encourage makers to look at their own practice. If they see someone else using paper or talking about recycled silver, you will ask questions.
How have you found being an ethical making ambassador?
I have really enjoyed it and have loved learning from other ambassadors and will be keen to do this role again in the future.
I have discovered a lot of different ways to be ethical since becoming an ambassador, some things I would have never thought of myself. It has been extremely interesting and enjoyable.
What is the most impactful thing you have learned this year that you will take into your future studies/career?
“Even small changes have a big impact, I will always remind myself of this and try my best to be ethical in everything I do.”
Bethany Hannah, City of Glasgow College Ambassador
The following three quotes are on my wall in my studio, and I reflect on them at least once a day:
“Being green is more than just buying ‘eco’. It is an unshakable commitment to a sustainable lifestyle.” – Jennifer Nini, writer and activist
“Most of the damage we cause to the planet is the result of our own ignorance.” – Yvon Chouinard
“The starting point is not the design, the starting point is sustainability.” – Stella McCartney
Lindsay Mahood, City of Glasgow College Ambassador
Head of Craft and Design at City of Glasgow College, Lisa McGovern, had the following to say about the Ethical Making Pledge:
“We knew as a department that we could help reduce waste and raise awareness of climate change and its short and long-term effects. Since committing to the pledge we have held an annual Eco-Awareness Week, changed our workshop practise to more eco friendly, and embedded ethics and sustainability into the Curriculum,”
She added, “By integrating these concerns into project briefs, students need to think carefully about the subject and materials and processes they consider using in their work. Students are producing more exciting and innovative work as a result of being challenged by using more sustainable materials. They are also developing a broader outlook and a deeper understanding of the issues which affect the planet,”
City of Glasgow College’s Eco -Awareness week this year was held virtually because of COVID. However, they wouldn’t allow lockdown to get in the way of still trying to get across this important message. They held conversations with Scottish Fairtrade Forum, Alumni discussing sustainability in their work and gave online demonstrations of eco-friendly techniques across Jewellery and Applied Arts. The link to these videos can be found here:
Read more about the Scottish Goldsmiths Trust’s Ethical Making Programme which includes the Ethical Making Pledge work with the Scottish art colleges.