The Earth is in a sad state and getting worse by the day. Coal burning and the use of fossil fuels in other forms are causing global warming at an alarming rate. Polar ice caps are melting; oceanic temperatures are rising; and weather patterns worldwide are changing forever.

Sounds a little overwhelming doesn’t it? But did you know, as an artist, you can do your part to help decrease pollution, decrease deforestation, and help spread the “green” ideal.

Over the last year there has been a massive surge on the “Going Green” front. Now, not everyone involved are really concerned with the planet. Let’s face it; an enormous concert to raise awareness uses an incredible amount of resources to pull off. But you can get involved on a small scale right at home.

Here Are 5 Easy Ways to Start “Going Green” Today

Switch To a Natural Thinner: Mineral spirits and paint thinners are full of horribly toxic chemicals that leech into your skin and/or ground water. The levels in your body actually will build up measurable levels over time in your spine. There is a great alternative offered by Weber called Turpenoid Natural. It is specially formulated to be non-toxic and non-flammable.

Save, Reuse, Recycle Your Thinner: Keep a decent amount of thinner in a wide mouth jar and reuse it until it becomes too dirty to use. Then, get a second wide mouth jar and rubber band a coffee filter inside the mouth. Pour your jar of dirty thinner into the filter. Continue to transfer back and forth one or two more times. The thinner will not look totally clean but it will be clean enough to use for a bit longer. Then dispose of unusable thinner and filters, etc. in an approved container to be disposed of properly at a facility.

Keep Your Number of Dangerous Pigments to a Minimum: Many pigments contained in paint are highly carcinogenic among other things. Keep these to a minimum. Don’t be lazy; most of the colors can be mixed closely enough using less harsh pigments. Ones that should be watched closely are the cadmiums and cobalts. There are others but these two are common to many palettes.

Look for Cotton or Hemp Paper: As artists we tend to use a lot of paper for sketches, prep work, and finished pieces. Look for paper (even in your sketchbooks) that is cotton, hemp, or linen based. These are all easily renewed resources, saving hundreds of trees yearly. Wood based paper products can take anywhere from 10 to 100 years to renew.

Scrounge Your Charcoal: Keep your ears out for local fires, visit campgrounds, find anything that has burned already. The creation of charcoal involves the process of burning and using trees to do this. Trees are a difficult resource to renew and burning contributes to the pollution in the air. If you can find charcoal that is from a fire that has already occurred, you at least are not contributing as much. And this way you can get a variety of charcoal densities, woods, and consistencies for free.

There you have it…5 ways you can start working green in your studio. As artists we deal with enough crap from people, we don’t need to make ourselves a target for the green movement at the very least. But as artists, we should be conscious of our impact on our environment and what we do in terms of activism as a result of others.

So, use less water, shut your lights off when you leave the room, and work a little greener in with your art. You will be healthier longer and the earth will enjoy it just a bit I think.