We’re kicking off season four with the topic of sustainability: going green in conservation! What can conservators do to make the world a little greener? We try to rustle up some practical tips and discuss some of the challenges museums face. We talk to sustainability champion Sarah Staniforth about her work around the world and to Caitlin Southwick about the Sustainability in Conservation (SiC) network. Also tune in for a review of two green heritage books!
00:01:02 News in brief
00:03:25 Definitions, definitions!
00:05:53 Institutional sustainability: can we keep collecting?
00:11:49 People power and the impact of conservators
00:14:14 Measuring impact and carbon footprints
00:16:29 Things conservators can think about
00:21:04 Glove recycling and the allure of purple furniture
00:23:35 Storage solutions and the curse of the Instagram-worthy box
00:26:06 Exhibitions and reuse
00:32:52 Choice of materials and chemicals
00:37:57 Interview with Sarah Staniforth CBE
01:01:03 Green champions and what we do
01:06:11 Conferences – are they very green?
01:08:15 Interview with Caitlin Southwick
01:24:07 Review: ‘Sustainable Heritage – Merging Environmental Conservation and Historic Preservation’ and ‘Sustainable Museums – Strategies for the 21st Century’
01:30:21 Comments, questions, and corrections
01:30:57 Patreon shout-out!
Show Notes:
– English Heritage Calls on the Public to Help Defend England’s Castles: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about-us/search-news/english-heritage-calls-on-the-public-to-help-defend-castles/
– ICON19 Call for Papers: https://icon.org.uk/events/icon-conference-2019/call-for-papers
– GDPR Webinar for Conservators: https://icon.org.uk/events/gdpr-what-you-need-to-know
– Museums Association Sustainability Campaign: https://www.museumsassociation.org/campaigns/sustainability
– Museums Association Guide to Carbon Footprinting: https://www.museumsassociation.org/museum-practice/carbon-footprinting
– ‘Sustainability in Conservation Practice’ by Megan de Silva and Jane Henderson: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/19455224.2011.566013
– Harvard University Green Labs Guide: https://green.harvard.edu/sites/green.harvard.edu/files/GreenLabsGuide.pdf
– Glove recycling in the School of Chemistry: https://www.ed.ac.uk/about/sustainability/what-we-do/circular-economy/case-studies/glove-recycling
– Museum Freecycle UK: https://groups.freecycle.org/group/MuseumUK/posts/all
– Recycling and Reuse of Zote Foam: http://www.zotefoams.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/TIS-26-Recycling-and-Reuse-of-Azote-materials-March-2016.pdf
– Conference programme from ‘Going Green’ conference in 2009: http://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/Going%20Green%20programme08.04.09.pdf
– Sustainability in Conservation surveys: https://www.sustainabilityinconservation.com/surveys
– SubsPort: https://www.subsport.eu/
– Blog from IIC 2018 Turin Congress: https://iicturincongress2018.com/content/blog
– AIC Sustainability Group: https://www.conservation-us.org/specialty-topics/sustainability
– Sustainability in Conservation: https://www.sustainabilityinconservation.com/
– Sustainable Heritage – Merging Environmental Conservation and Historic Preservation: https://www.routledge.com/Sustainable-Heritage-Merging-Environmental-Conservation-and-Historic-Preservation/Leifeste-Stiefel/p/book/9781138812192 or https://amzn.to/2xqMDQa
– Sustainable Museums – Strategies for the 21st Century: https://museumsetc.com/collections/books-on-museums/products/sustainable-museums
Hosted by Jenny Mathiasson, Kloe Rumsey and Christina Rozeik.
Intro and outro music by DDmyzik used under a Creative Commons Attribution license. Additional sound effects and music by Calum Robertson.
Made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.
A Wooden Dice production, 2018.