How to Build an Eco-Friendly Art Business
Sustainability plays a big role in our entire process at artterra: from selecting our artists, to reduce the carbon footprint of shipping by having our artists ship their work directly to our customers. A percentage of all art sales goes towards causes like cleaning the oceans.
Here are a few ideas to build an eco-friendly art business:
1. Eco-Friendly Packaging
According to the EPA, “containers and packaging alone contribute to over 23% of the material reaching landfills in the US.”
At artterra we encourage our artists to use biodegradable packaging or recycled cardboard instead.
Try swapping out single-use containers for materials that break down quickly and effectively, like corn starch, mycelium, wood pulp, and seaweed.
Don’t use a mishmash of materials. If your packaging contains two different types of polymers, for example, that can render it unrecyclable. If you must use plastic, stick to one type.
2. Shipping & Delivery
Did you know the shipping industry is responsible for around 940 million tonnes of CO2 annually, which is at least 2.5% of the world's total CO2 emissions?
By the time most products reach the buyer at a typical retail store, they have been shipped multiple times.
Thats why at artterra we don't keep inventory of artwork at our warehouse and our model involves direct shipping from the maker to the buyer to reduce carbon emission from shipping an artwork more than once.
Other practices you can implement include consolidating orders when possible. Offer discounts for multiple orders to encourage bulk purchases.
3. Art Production
From aiming to find manufacturers of art supplies who use eco-friendly practices, to reusing your containers to reduce waste, there is so much you can do to keep mother nature happy.
4. Make Charitable Contributions
Help offset your environmental impact by actively supporting the environment.
We currently donate 2% from every purchase on artterra to a rotating list of Canadian charities including: Ocean Clean-up, Ancient Forest Alliance
What are some other ways you're keeping our environment top-of-mind while building your art business?