I am so enamored by so many fantastic crafters out there. Felt and paper flowers are my current fascination. I hover between buying my fellow crafters' beautiful creations and learning new skills to create my own. One thing that slows me down from simply buying theirs is that I have made the environmental impacts of my actions both as an individual and a business owner a priority. So I watch to see how they make their creations and have to hesitate when they use materials or tools that don’t seem to be in line with this thinking.
I've learned along the way that it’s best not to tackle and expunge every exacting polluting carcinogenetic thing all at once. You will go crazy and find that however successful you were in implementing those changes in the beginning, most of us can't maintain that many changes from what our neighbors are doing. It's a huge mountain we need to move. Better successes seem to come from learning how to nudge it daily as we go along. Vigo Mortensen in 'Captain Fantastic' is one possible outcome of environmental and social fanaticism and that turned out to not be the best thing for anyone long term (yikes!). We are social animals; it is very hard (read-exhausting and maddening) for us to step outside our group very far. I prefer to exist on the edge of the group and have found I’m quite happy there.
I've had a personal war on petroleum-based plastics for a while. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. And sometimes I have to come to terms with plastic in some areas of my life... for now. One of my current hot topics is hot glue sticks. People are using them all over the place. They are fantastically easy and versatile to use. Problem is, what are those clear sticks of wonder made from? As you might expect, things that are best understood by a chemist:
Ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymers, Polyolefins (PO) (polyethylene (usually LDPE but also HDPE, Polyamides and polyesters, Thermoplastic polyurethane, Styrene block copolymers, etc. - From Wikipedia.
All are products of petroleum oil. Yuck... Plus solvents that evaporate as it cools off that are considered toxic. As someone that is trying not to knowingly instigate cancer in myself or my families' bodies, or the frogs in the creek outside, the bats in their cave...... you get the point - this doesn't look good.
Just to make sure I was thinking through this well, I compared glue sticks to PVA Glue or a white craft glue like Elmer's glue, which is what I use all the time.
From Wikipedia: “Poly(vinyl acetate) (PVA, PVAc, poly(ethenyl ethanoate): commonly referred to as wood glue, white glue, carpenter's glue, school glue, Elmer's glue in the US, or PVA glue) is an aliphatic rubbery synthetic polymer with the formula (C4H6O2)n. It belongs to the polyvinyl esters family, with the general formula -[RCOOCHCH2]-. It is a type of thermoplastic.”
Or from Woodguide.org: Poly Vinyl Acetate (PVA) - "PVA, PVAc glue (Polyvinyl acetate), or white glue, is the most used glue in wood construction nowadays. It is a product of the petrochemical industry. It can be seen as microscopic plastic particles diluted in water. Even though it is a synthetic thermoplastic, under the right conditions it can biodegrade. Overall it is considered as a safe product to use. Also used for bookbinding and paper crafting, or as a protective coating for cheese. Yummy." Sounds a little better, but it is still a petroleum-based plastic.
I know that a lot of animal rights people bemoaned the use of horse and cow hooves to make school glue. But in the end, that option was far more sustainable than our current model. Let me be clear, this is using parts of animals that are already killed or have died for other reasons. If you think about how many beef cows alone are butchered every day, wouldn't it make sense to use all the parts as best we can? From what I can find, either Elmer’s or anyone else makes a liquid commercially available collagen-based glue anymore. But the stuff is in a lot of other everyday items. I'm definitely an advocate for changing our agribusiness model and eating more good clean veggies but the switch to synthetic materials, which are often petrochemical-based products, isn't necessarily better.
So after a day of diligently combing through the interwebs trying to discern what kind of risks are involved with a hot glue gun, besides getting your fingers burned if you aren’t careful and the possibility of irritating vapors, I have found no conclusive reports yet of either acute or chronic damage. It doesn’t stop me from worrying quietly about my fellow artisan crafters.
It will remain on my naughty list, along with the occasional piece of clear wrap I end up using. PVA glue, which I use a lot of, like Aleen’s tacky glue and all the acrylic paints I’ve accumulated over the years are on my not so benign list as well.
Instead of hot glue, I will continue to try other methods to attach things, like sewing! It has been surprising all the things I can sew onto a mask or decorated pointe shoe. It’s the little things that make me happy.
There is definitely a naughty side of me that shouts I should throw caution to the wind and just CREATE with abandon using whatever makes it the easiest to complete. I have so many ideas that I want to explore! And, everyone else is using it, so why shouldn't I? But, it wouldn’t be as meaningful in the long run though. And I with my turtle mind needs to remember that this is the only path that I’ll truly be happy on. Slow, steady, and thoughtful is my home.
Thanks for listening,
Kerry