Elizabeth Carmel's Landscape Photography Blog

Back from the Islands / Earth Day Throughts

We had a great trip to Maui and enjoyed meeting up with Randy Braun, Photographer Extraordinaire, a local who showed us some wonderful locations along the Hana Highway. Randy has a great gallery in Makawao, a must see if you visit Maui. I hope to have some new pictures from the trip posted in the next few weeks. We did not do as much snorkeling this trip since the surf was high and made the water a little cloudy, but I did get some nice sunsets and some interesting shots of the "rainbow eucalyptus."

Since Earth Day is tomorrow I added a page to our Carmel Gallery website which outlines some of our "green business" practices. I think two issues of particular interest to photographers are the need to recycle used ink cartridges ( I have been told they contain trace amounts of cyanide and are often disposed of improperly in landfills), and the need to be aware of the woods used in picture frame moulding. I will be posting some information soon on a major new non-profit organization being formed to bring awareness to the problem of printer cartridge disposal and the need for better cartridge recycling programs. My previous posts have highlighted the issue of the use of endangered woods for picture frame moulding. Everyone who buys frames and bulk moulding should be aware of the type of wood used and pressure suppliers to provide non-endangered woods.

Picture Frames and Endangered Rainforests

I have been researching picture frame mouldings and stretcher bars that do not result in environmental damage. The plot thickens the more I learn about the framing / moulding industry. There is an excellent resource I found that discussed woods to avoid: http://www.rainforestrelief.org/documents/Guidelines.pdf

One company I have found is very in tune with this issue: Framerica moulding seems to be one of the most eco-friendly moulding companies. Here is an excerpt from the Decor Article on Green Framing Products:
Framerica’s products have earned Environmentally Preferred Product (EPP) certification from the Composite Panel Association of wood manufacturers, and BonanzaWood saves deforestation from solid wood and the oil consumption attributed to plastics. Framerica has used BonanzaWood as the primary core for its mouldings for more than 10 years. BonanzaWood contributes to absolutely zero deforestation, in many instances utilizing wood waste from post-consumer products that would otherwise be destined for landfills.

I must also point out that Omega moulding has been very helpful with my inquiries about moulding wood, and referred me to this website: UNEP.
I am still doing research on some of their mouldings I have been using to see if they are FSC certified.

Green Business Practices

I am putting together a list of ways our gallery is a "green business" along with areas where we can be more eco-friendly. I will soon be adding a new page to our Carmel Gallery website that describes our green business philosophy. As part of my research, I found an interesting document from Epson that details their environmental conservation program - it is contained on pages 24-44 of this pdf document.

Since we use Epson papers, inks, and printers it is important for us to understand their commitment to green business practices. From reading the details in this pdf document it appears they are putting a fair amount of effort into environmental sustainability. The company which we purchase our inks from in Berkeley also has a very good ink recycling program - information on their program is available at this link: Bytes2Print recycling

Since we use 100% cotton papers for our prints, I found this statement on the Crane website very interesting - they list 7 reasons why cotton is better than wood based paper. We use the textured fine art paper by Crane and the Epson Ultrasmooth cotton paper.

As far as paper and canvas coatings, alot of credit should be given to the Premier Art company for their formulation of Eco Print Shield, and environmentally friendly coating that "protects all water resistant ink jet prints from moisture, light, humidity, atmospheric contaminants, abrasion and even fingerprints."

I am also doing some research on eco-friendly framing materials. I think that a lot of frame moulding comes from wood that is not sustainably harvested, and the frame companies need to do a better job of disclosing the source of their wood. This article in Decor Magazine helps bring to light some of the things frame suppliers can do. I will be posting my findings here. Feel free to comment on any eco-friendly product recommendations readers have for printing and framing.