Renee considers her impact on the environment very carefully. She has self-imposed the following processes to help keep our groundwater as unpolluted as possible. She continues to research safe disposal of paint water and will implement new and better policies as she learns about them.
- First, and foremost, Renee does not teach classes that require oil-based paints or solvents. While ingredients have improved over time, and oil paints are no longer inherently toxic, mediums used to thin oil paints (turpentine, Oderless Mineral Spirits (OMS), Gamosol, etc.) are toxic. She also does not wish to expose her students to the paint fumes of oil paints and solvents.
- Renee collects the dirty paint water and filters it prior to disposal. It is never dumped down the sinks of any location where she teaches. Non-toxic acrylic paint dries to be a form of a plastic. Renee wants to keep that out of the sink and pipes of any building. She does this by letting the paint settle to bottom of the dirty paint water container. The water is poured off and filtered. Any acrylic remnants will be captured in the filter and disposed of in the trash.
- Renee uses natural pigments and binders whenever possible.
Golden has a write-up about waste disposal.