Sustainability
PAPERS
Our Archival papers is 100% cotton naturally, so there have been no chemicals added to the paper to achieve a pH-neutral level. The paper companies we use, Hahnemuhle and Canson, both have environmentally friendly practices and documentation in the creation of their papers.
Learn about Hahnemuhe’s Sustainability Practices
Learn about Canson’s Sustainability Practices
FINISHING MATERIALS
The finishing products we use are archival in nature with our matting tape being made mainly of linen fibers, and our mat board is 100% cotton the same as our papers.
PREMIUM FRAME WOOD
Our Premium line of frames is 100% real wood sustainably harvested and milled in the United States. All of our stained finishes are water-based, which is good not only for the environment but for their employees as well.
ALBUM MATERIALS
All of the album products created by MUSEA are made by hand, with no electricity required unless stamping is needed.
Recycling & Re-use
MATBOARD MATERIAL
The cotton used to manufacture our mat board is not from the puffy white flower that we all recognize as cotton, but rather the linters, or byproduct, from the textile industry. Textiles are made using the longest, highest-quality fibers – the rest is discarded. This wasted cotton is salvaged and used to manufacture our Museum Boards. Nothing could be more eco-friendly than reusing a product that is considered waste – otherwise, this would all end up in the trash.
HARDWOOD FRAME MANUFACTURING
The manufacturer of our hardwood frame line does everything they can to reduce waste in manufacturing. Their rippings, edgings and cutoffs are sold for kindling. They recycle all paper, cardboard, cans, bottles and batteries and also work with a local environmental company to dispose of waste, such as oil and coolant, from manufacturing. Sawdust and chips are sent to a wood processing center that turns them into pellets, some of which are purchased back as a supplemental heating source. Air from their dust collection system is recirculated back into the building, reducing energy consumption year round.
MUSEA LAB WASTE
We have contracted a local recycling company, Recyclops, for weekly recycling pickup! Through them we are able to recycle all of our paper, matboard, cardboard, and #1 & #2 plastic waste.
Our printer manufacturer, Epson, has a recycling program for expended ink cartridges. We are saving expended ink cartridges from our Epson printers and shipping them to their recycling program for reuse.
Shipping Materials
We use recyclable cardboard sheets and cardboard boxes for our order packaging
Prints are secured to the cardboard sheets using a paper based masking tape
We close our boxes with water activated, non-reinforced, paper tape. We have chosen non-reinforced paper tape because the fiberglass fibers used to reinforce paper tape are not recyclable, and end up in landfills.
Room for Growth
While many of our materials, processes, and procedures are environmentally friendly, we know we are far from perfect. We are continually pinpointing areas where we would like to reduce our environmental impact. Here are some areas we hope to improve on in the future:
PLASTIC SLEEVES
We currently use individual plastic sleeves to package our fine art prints and mats. These sleeves protect the print from scratching, scuffing, water, and dust during shipping and in storage. While alternatives to plastic sleeves for packaging do exist, we have not yet found an alternative that comes in all of the sizes we require at an economically viable price point for the quantities we use daily. We hope to one day locate such an alternative.
STYROFOAM PADDING
We use roll styrofoam both to protectively wrap our frames and canvases, and thick roll foam to provide additional padding to frame and canvas corners in packaging. Ideally we’ll be able to find a protective packaging alternative that keeps artwork safe while also being more environmentally friendly.