Recycling Initiatives
- Nitrile glove recycling
- Foam recycling program
- Plastic bag recycling station
- Battery recycling station
- Materials reuse from exhibitions
- Reuse Komatex panels in galleries
- Greater efforts towards case, platform and wall reuse
- Donate materials/components of exhibitions to students and local institutions
- Manual publication printed on recycled paper
Energy
- LED lighting in galleries and offices
- Using filtered tap water rather than water coolers
- Installed energy efficient air handlers
Planning/Practice
- Assessed museum practices to understand our carbon footprint
- Published CES statement adding sustainability into the Exhibition Planning Document
- Added sustainability to Collections Management policy
- Prioritized recyclable materials for labels and graphics
- Presented CES exhibition, opened August 20, 2022
- Discontinued admissions stickers and plastic tags
- Use of video projection instead of vinyl in exhibitions, where possible
- Discontinued printed newsletters (reduce waste, no shipping)
- Exploring environmental benefits for remote and hybrid work arrangements
- Shipped exhibition catalogs via freight ship instead of air travel
- Turned off Zoom cameras for reducing carbon footprint
- Developed digital membership cards
External programming
- Programming related to Take Care exhibition - Super Art Sunday, Art, Climate Crisis and Activism - Feb, March 2023
- CES presented to Peabody Essex Museum staff - Fall 2022
- Visited Peabody Essex Museum to meet with climate team - December 2022
- Presented to Museum exhibition planning professional group on RISD Museum’s climate and sustainability initiatives - December 2022
Internal programming
- Sustainability at Home webinar - 2021
- All Staff Dialogue - December 2021
- Earth Day Challenge - 2021, 2022, 2023
- Composting webinar - 2021
- Rhode Island Resource and Recovery - Recycling webinar - 2021
- Clean Ocean Access - Advocacy webinar - 2021
- Podcast lunches & discussion (Listen and Learn) - 2022
- Sarah Nunberg (Stich workshop with museum staff and making our buildings more sustainable) - October 2022 and March 2023
- Nature foraging with Silvermoon LaRose, Tomaquag Museum - August 2022
- Fiber and ceramic mending workshops - 2023
- Programming for academic community in Take Care exhibition - August 2022 - March 2023
Internal Resources - ongoing
- Created internal resources and research for museum staff with articles, links, videos on climate crisis and sustainability
- Send weekly staff newsletter with sustainability tips/articles
- Cross departmental collaboration with RISD campus Initiative on Sustainability and Environment working group and RISD’s Center for Complexity (sharing resources/developing programs)
- CES staff attend professional development webinars
Have we overlooked something important? Please send your feedback to arw-museum@risd.edu.