It wasn’t me thank goodness that blocked the sink with hardened acrylic paint - honestly! It was Jill (who has kindly allowed me to share her story!), a friend who unfortunately caused the plumber to be called out after always washing her brushes and palette out in the bathroom sink!
I have to admit, I didn’t think either about the hardened acrylic that would block the drains until I started going to art classes many years ago. At the end of the session we were all given strict instructions NOT to use the sinks. Instead we were each given a washing-up bowl to clean our brushes in. The bowls were then left until the acrylic had hardened and could be scooped out with newspaper. Our palettes were also left to harden and then the paint could be peeled off. The newspaper, hardened acrylic and the palette peelings then went into the recycling bin. Paper palette pads are great nowadays, as these can just be torn off and popped into the recycling. I believe that hardened acrylic paint can now be made into Refuse Derived Fuel along with other recyclable paper and plastics.
I gifted Jill a bright pink (her favourite colour!) washing-up bowl for her birthday, which was conveniently the week after her blocked drain! I’ve had my green brush washing-up bowl for years and I’m always surprised at how ‘plasticky’ the acrylic becomes - which is daft really as it’s acrylic! Anyway, it does make you think of all those artists who are unaware that their drains may be building up with hardened acrylic, and also how much of it will end up in our water systems.
I thought about this again after COP26, and wondered what alternatives there are to acrylic paint to be more eco-friendly? I’ve never used gouache, so I’m not sure if it handles in the same way as acrylic, and oil paints sound such a faff, but I may be wrong and it’s all in my head!
In the meantime I’m doing my best to be eco-friendly. I use 100% recycled biodegradable tissue paper and bubble wrap for shipping paintings, I try to source wooden panels from suppliers who only use timber from sustainable managed forests, and I use my washing-up bowl! It certainly gets you thinking - I like synthetic brushes as they ‘behave’ well with acrylics, but are the bristles eco-friendly or not?
There’s lots of info online about being a more eco-friendly artist - I’d really love to hear if you have any tips on this subject!
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