Sustainability Resource Guide

Green Office

• I focus on where I live, and aim to unite my community around access to clean air, water, and energy.

• I use vintage equipment as an aesthetic choice whenever possible. I also choose to photograph using natural light as often as possible.

• When printing, I choose paper that is at minimum 100% post-consumer waste (PCW) recycled. I pay attention to the binding and adhesives being used on final products, and try to use 70% vegetable-based ink with VOC levels of 5% or less, and less than 70% ink coverage on a page with no bleeds to reduce trim waste.

• I don’t use any fluorescent or metallic inks, foils, varnishes, laminates, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), plastic, and UV coatings (aqueous coatings and engravings are acceptable).

Sustainable Sourcing

• I believe in the protection and support of traditional skills and the ancient heritage of ancestral communities. I support buying handcrafted, fair-trade and artisanal goods.

• Instead of damaging photography props (like balloons, confetti, etc.) I use plants, flowers, fruit, bio-glitter, and unique pieces from around my home. Food and flowers used during photo sessions are composted on-site, and the compost tea we produce is used to organically re-fertilize local top soils.

• I’m in support of independent, local business and aim to form strong, personal relationships between myself and other freelance designers and also with my local manufacturers and vendors.

• One of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions is agriculture, so my choice of vendors/materials reflects this knowledge.

Responsible Disposal

• True circularity is not about recycling. It’s a total rethink on how we go from our current model of take, make and waste to a new model of take, make and never throw away. I believe in the future of ‘refill and reuse’ as a major part of the solution to our waste crisis.

• When I do choose recyclables, I choose safer industrial materials that can be used for re-manufacture. Aluminum, steel, tin and glass can be recycled in an infinite loop. I also use rechargeable batteries for my cameras as well as other electronics and props.

• What comes from the Earth should return to the Earth. As such, the major material component of my packaging designs must be compostable biodegradable sources or regional agri-fiber or agricultural residue (wheat straw, corn stover, hemp, kenaf, begasse, prairie grasses, etc). Exciting bio-materials also include wood pulp, plant cellulose, food waste, algae, and mushrooms.

Community Building

• The current cause I’m dedicated to is Soil Health. Predictions for 2050 indicate that there will be insufficient nutrients in our topsoil to grow crops in the US. Worldwide forecasts are similar. That’s why I donate a portion of my profits-per-project to philanthropic partnerships. I’m currently donating to Soul Fire Farm.

• “Soul Fire Farm is an Afro-Indigenous centered community farm committed to uprooting racism and seeding sovereignty in the food system. We raise and distribute life-giving food as a means to end food apartheid. With deep reverence for the land and wisdom of our ancestors, we work to reclaim our collective right to belong to the earth and to have agency in the food system. We bring diverse communities together on this healing land to share skills on sustainable agriculture, natural building, spiritual activism, health, and environmental justice.”