Studio Sustainability

We ask our students and members to be conscious of the amount of water used when throwing and cleaning - encouraging them to reuse bucket water whenever possible. We also replaced our larger water buckets with smaller ones to reduce the amount of water used for basic cleaning and throwing purposes.

• The studio follows standard clay waste procedures requiring all members and students to recycle scrap wet clay into appropriate receptacles depending on clay type. This clay is then placed on a plaster slab to remove excess moisture until it is the right consistency to be wedged up for reuse to create new work.

• Studios like ours end up with a LOT of clay and glaze waste. Clay is often able to be reused, but glaze waste is a bit trickier. A great solution is mixing clay and glaze waste together to create bricks. Once a reclaim clay and glaze brick is fired, any potentially hazardous materials are sealed and made inert. The brick is suitable for a variety of purposes, like decorative barriers in a garden.

Have you participated in SCCA’s special event – the Smash Booth? We end up with quite a bit of left-behind work around the studio. As a fun way to discard this material, we have this unique event where people can throw a piece against a wall. And even better than smashing pots - we donate the resulting pottery shards to other local arts organizations to use in future art projects: HART Gallery, ELLA Library.

SCCA made a commitment to never buy new packaging materials. We reuse every box we receive and encourage members to bring in extra boxes or packing materials to share with others, so that we can all get our pieces home safely.

SCCA is mindful of its materials sourcing, specifically for the clay that is sold and used at the studio. Currently, the studio supplies its clay from a clay production company based out of Asheville, NC, about 226 miles from SCCA’s location in downtown Chattanooga.

Properly venting a kiln is not only about human safety; it also leads to lower energy costs and extends the lifespan of kiln equipment like the elements. We have vents installed in both studio locations to remove any fumes or hazardous emissions from our studio space.

We have tons of informational and instructional signage around our studio locations, to encourage good sustainability practices for ALL of our studio users.