Open Forum

Been there! Relieve your guilt. Some things should be landfilled. Recycling only makes sense when there is an effective system in place that provides a tangible benefit. Rather than getting into the weeds...

Foam, high-density or otherwise is practically unrecyclable. I say "practically" because there have been programs, but none that I'm aware of that actually have a measurable benefit.
Cardboard and paper, even glossy, are easy. You probably already have a system. If not, check with your local jurisdiction. There's somewhere you can take it.
Plastic film can be recycled at your local grocery bag drop-off: bags, air-pack bubbles, bubble wrap-any pliable, clean, plastic film. Remove any paper labels, deflate if necessary, bag it up and take it to your local grocery bag drop-off.
Hard plastics may be recyclable in your jurisdiction. Most programs only take food packaging but some take "plastic toys and other large plastic items." If you have a program like that you can try recycling rigid plastics. They will probably be pulled from the stream and end up in the trash anyway.

Thanks for caring. We do what we can.


------------------------------
Tod Hopkins
Technical Director
Hillmann & Carr Inc.
Washington DC
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-09-2022 05:38 PM
From: Cathy Callaway
Subject: How to recycle packing material?

Any of you who have had experience moving a museum knows how much packing material is generated. What do you do with it when you unpack? We were fortunate after our first move to have space in the basement of our new building to store packing materials -- just in case -- after our last move. But this time we are not so lucky to have any space for storage. I am particularly worried about what the high-density foam might do to the environment.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Cathy

Cathy Callaway, PhD
Museum Educator
Editor, MUSE
Museum of Art and Archaeology
Mizzou North, Room 2014
115 West Business Loop 70
University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO 65211-8310
(573) 882-5076

Original Message:
Sent: 1/10/2022 9:46:00 AM
From: Tod Hopkins
Subject: RE: How to recycle packing material?

Been there! Relieve your guilt. Some things should be landfilled. Recycling only makes sense when there is an effective system in place that provides a tangible benefit. Rather than getting into the weeds...

Foam, high-density or otherwise is practically unrecyclable. I say "practically" because there have been programs, but none that I'm aware of that actually have a measurable benefit.
Cardboard and paper, even glossy, are easy. You probably already have a system. If not, check with your local jurisdiction. There's somewhere you can take it.
Plastic film can be recycled at your local grocery bag drop-off: bags, air-pack bubbles, bubble wrap-any pliable, clean, plastic film. Remove any paper labels, deflate if necessary, bag it up and take it to your local grocery bag drop-off.
Hard plastics may be recyclable in your jurisdiction. Most programs only take food packaging but some take "plastic toys and other large plastic items." If you have a program like that you can try recycling rigid plastics. They will probably be pulled from the stream and end up in the trash anyway.

Thanks for caring. We do what we can.


------------------------------
Tod Hopkins
Technical Director
Hillmann & Carr Inc.
Washington DC
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-09-2022 05:38 PM
From: Cathy Callaway
Subject: How to recycle packing material?

Any of you who have had experience moving a museum knows how much packing material is generated. What do you do with it when you unpack? We were fortunate after our first move to have space in the basement of our new building to store packing materials -- just in case -- after our last move. But this time we are not so lucky to have any space for storage. I am particularly worried about what the high-density foam might do to the environment.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Cathy

Cathy Callaway, PhD
Museum Educator
Editor, MUSE
Museum of Art and Archaeology
Mizzou North, Room 2014
115 West Business Loop 70
University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO 65211-8310
(573) 882-5076

I love “Give Away Days”! What a great idea.

Along those lines, if anyone is not familiar with “Freecycling” groups, they can be another useful tool. You can go to Freecycle.org to connect to your nearest regional group (most metro areas have one), but there are other venues with similar groups.

Facebook has many such groups and you can post free stuff directly in Facebook Marketplace. No need for a special group. Personally, I find the Facebook tools unmanageable, but with it’s incredible reach, it is very effective.

Packing material requests and giveaways are a staple of my freecycle group.

Does anyone know of a such a group dedicated to museums and exhibit institutions?

Cheers,
tod

Tod Hopkins
Hillmann & Carr Inc.
Direct: 202-871-8350
Main: 202-342-0001


Original Message:
Sent: 1/11/2022 1:11:00 PM
From: Batja Bell
Subject: RE: How to recycle packing material?

Hi Cathy:

Thank you for being so conscientious!

Agreeing with Tod that this is a big problem in our profession, and preparators and collections staff have been thinking about lowering the environmental impact of exhibitions for decades.  Unfortunately, with few exceptions, institutions keep going back to the same materials (sigh), because they are effective and available.   And the cost of storage and the time involved in management of excess and used materials seems to outweigh other factors.          

If you are willing to invest a little time, however, at the very least you can consider passing materials along for reuse locally.   At a museum I worked for in the past, I set up "giveaway days" when we needed  to reduce our offsite storage capacity.

-- I prepared a list of what we needed to clear out:  packing materials, exhibition panels that could be repainted, exhibition cases that were no longer needed, crates, plexi with a few dings, and other materials.   

   

-- Assembled a contact list of local arts organizations, schools, art teachers in public schools, local and state parks with exhibition spaces, local small underfunded museums, community galleries, etc.

-- Set a couple of pickup dates and times, and notified contacts with a list of items and when they could come to collect.   

We were able to clear out a *lot* of our unused items that way, and get them to groups and individuals who needed this and were able to reuse, refurbish and keep them out of landfill.  

Artists liked the ex-exhibition text panels as painting support, and old crates which they could retrofit for their works   Parks and historic sites took dinged-up cases and pedestals and domes with scratches that were no longer "aestheically appealing" enough for art installations, but fine with a little work on their part.   Boxes and packing paper were helpful for other organizations in their moves.  The community art centers took crates, and cases that were too damaged for reuse were scrapped for material by artists.

Other items can be repurposed for your own needs, if not recycled.    Ethafoam scrap can be cut into 4 x 12 " blocks ("bumpers") and "elbow"  shapes; these are useful to stabilize flat works and keep them off the floor and from marking wall surfaces during installations.   (Ethafoam scrap can be recycled, but unfortunately, there are few recyclers and you need industrial-sized quantity for them to accept).     

I hope this gives you a few ideas!

Batja

     

--

Batja Bell

(she/her)

registration services

for art, artifacts & exhibitions

batja.bell@gmail.com

(office) 973-761-4090

(mobile/text) 862-205-7029

Original Message:
Sent: 1/10/2022 9:46:00 AM
From: Tod Hopkins
Subject: RE: How to recycle packing material?

Been there! Relieve your guilt. Some things should be landfilled. Recycling only makes sense when there is an effective system in place that provides a tangible benefit. Rather than getting into the weeds...

Foam, high-density or otherwise is practically unrecyclable. I say "practically" because there have been programs, but none that I'm aware of that actually have a measurable benefit.
Cardboard and paper, even glossy, are easy. You probably already have a system. If not, check with your local jurisdiction. There's somewhere you can take it.
Plastic film can be recycled at your local grocery bag drop-off: bags, air-pack bubbles, bubble wrap-any pliable, clean, plastic film. Remove any paper labels, deflate if necessary, bag it up and take it to your local grocery bag drop-off.
Hard plastics may be recyclable in your jurisdiction. Most programs only take food packaging but some take "plastic toys and other large plastic items." If you have a program like that you can try recycling rigid plastics. They will probably be pulled from the stream and end up in the trash anyway.

Thanks for caring. We do what we can.


------------------------------
Tod Hopkins
Technical Director
Hillmann & Carr Inc.
Washington DC
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-09-2022 05:38 PM
From: Cathy Callaway
Subject: How to recycle packing material?

Any of you who have had experience moving a museum knows how much packing material is generated. What do you do with it when you unpack? We were fortunate after our first move to have space in the basement of our new building to store packing materials -- just in case -- after our last move. But this time we are not so lucky to have any space for storage. I am particularly worried about what the high-density foam might do to the environment.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Cathy

Cathy Callaway, PhD
Museum Educator
Editor, MUSE
Museum of Art and Archaeology
Mizzou North, Room 2014
115 West Business Loop 70
University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO 65211-8310
(573) 882-5076

Original Message:
Sent: 1/11/2022 1:38:00 PM
From: Tod Hopkins
Subject: RE: How to recycle packing material?

I love “Give Away Days”! What a great idea.

Along those lines, if anyone is not familiar with “Freecycling” groups, they can be another useful tool. You can go to Freecycle.org to connect to your nearest regional group (most metro areas have one), but there are other venues with similar groups.

Facebook has many such groups and you can post free stuff directly in Facebook Marketplace. No need for a special group. Personally, I find the Facebook tools unmanageable, but with it’s incredible reach, it is very effective.

Packing material requests and giveaways are a staple of my freecycle group.

Does anyone know of a such a group dedicated to museums and exhibit institutions?

Cheers,
tod

Tod Hopkins
Hillmann & Carr Inc.
Direct: 202-871-8350
Main: 202-342-0001


Original Message:
Sent: 1/11/2022 1:11:00 PM
From: Batja Bell
Subject: RE: How to recycle packing material?

Hi Cathy:

Thank you for being so conscientious!

Agreeing with Tod that this is a big problem in our profession, and preparators and collections staff have been thinking about lowering the environmental impact of exhibitions for decades.  Unfortunately, with few exceptions, institutions keep going back to the same materials (sigh), because they are effective and available.   And the cost of storage and the time involved in management of excess and used materials seems to outweigh other factors.          

If you are willing to invest a little time, however, at the very least you can consider passing materials along for reuse locally.   At a museum I worked for in the past, I set up "giveaway days" when we needed  to reduce our offsite storage capacity.

-- I prepared a list of what we needed to clear out:  packing materials, exhibition panels that could be repainted, exhibition cases that were no longer needed, crates, plexi with a few dings, and other materials.   

   

-- Assembled a contact list of local arts organizations, schools, art teachers in public schools, local and state parks with exhibition spaces, local small underfunded museums, community galleries, etc.

-- Set a couple of pickup dates and times, and notified contacts with a list of items and when they could come to collect.   

We were able to clear out a *lot* of our unused items that way, and get them to groups and individuals who needed this and were able to reuse, refurbish and keep them out of landfill.  

Artists liked the ex-exhibition text panels as painting support, and old crates which they could retrofit for their works   Parks and historic sites took dinged-up cases and pedestals and domes with scratches that were no longer "aestheically appealing" enough for art installations, but fine with a little work on their part.   Boxes and packing paper were helpful for other organizations in their moves.  The community art centers took crates, and cases that were too damaged for reuse were scrapped for material by artists.

Other items can be repurposed for your own needs, if not recycled.    Ethafoam scrap can be cut into 4 x 12 " blocks ("bumpers") and "elbow"  shapes; these are useful to stabilize flat works and keep them off the floor and from marking wall surfaces during installations.   (Ethafoam scrap can be recycled, but unfortunately, there are few recyclers and you need industrial-sized quantity for them to accept).     

I hope this gives you a few ideas!

Batja

     

--

Batja Bell

(she/her)

registration services

for art, artifacts & exhibitions

batja.bell@gmail.com

(office) 973-761-4090

(mobile/text) 862-205-7029

Original Message:
Sent: 1/10/2022 9:46:00 AM
From: Tod Hopkins
Subject: RE: How to recycle packing material?

Been there! Relieve your guilt. Some things should be landfilled. Recycling only makes sense when there is an effective system in place that provides a tangible benefit. Rather than getting into the weeds...

Foam, high-density or otherwise is practically unrecyclable. I say "practically" because there have been programs, but none that I'm aware of that actually have a measurable benefit.
Cardboard and paper, even glossy, are easy. You probably already have a system. If not, check with your local jurisdiction. There's somewhere you can take it.
Plastic film can be recycled at your local grocery bag drop-off: bags, air-pack bubbles, bubble wrap-any pliable, clean, plastic film. Remove any paper labels, deflate if necessary, bag it up and take it to your local grocery bag drop-off.
Hard plastics may be recyclable in your jurisdiction. Most programs only take food packaging but some take "plastic toys and other large plastic items." If you have a program like that you can try recycling rigid plastics. They will probably be pulled from the stream and end up in the trash anyway.

Thanks for caring. We do what we can.


------------------------------
Tod Hopkins
Technical Director
Hillmann & Carr Inc.
Washington DC
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-09-2022 05:38 PM
From: Cathy Callaway
Subject: How to recycle packing material?

Any of you who have had experience moving a museum knows how much packing material is generated. What do you do with it when you unpack? We were fortunate after our first move to have space in the basement of our new building to store packing materials -- just in case -- after our last move. But this time we are not so lucky to have any space for storage. I am particularly worried about what the high-density foam might do to the environment.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Cathy

Cathy Callaway, PhD
Museum Educator
Editor, MUSE
Museum of Art and Archaeology
Mizzou North, Room 2014
115 West Business Loop 70
University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO 65211-8310
(573) 882-5076

> Cathy Wrote:
> I also brought home some things each day for myself to use, recycle, or giveaway. I have to be careful though not to fill up my house!

I am a living testament to the fact that you can easily fill up your home with things that you are convinced can be kept out of the landfill, but simply don’t have the time and energy to “give away." It’s harder than one might think to find “markets” for the things you no longer want. One interesting side effect of making a concerted effort to reduce-reuse-recycle is that you learn a lot about the hidden costs of time and effort, residual value, or lack thereof, and about how futile it is to try and solve the problem at the disposal end, rather than the creation side.

Cheers,
tod

Tod Hopkins
Hillmann & Carr Inc.
Direct: 202-871-8350
Main: 202-342-0001


Original Message:
Sent: 1/11/2022 8:15:00 PM
From: Cathy Callaway
Subject: RE: How to recycle packing material?

I am touched by how helpful and supportive everyone has been. After the first message Tod sent, I actually relaxed and decided to just do the best I can. All the suggestions have been excellent and I mean to try most, if not all. (And I also brought home some things each day for myself to use, recycle, or giveaway. I have to be careful though not to fill up my house!)

Thank you all!!

Cathy

Cathy Callaway, PhD
Museum Educator
Editor, MUSE
Museum of Art and Archaeology
Mizzou North, Room 2014
115 West Business Loop 70
University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO 65211-8310
(573) 882-5076

Original Message:
Sent: 1/11/2022 1:38:00 PM
From: Tod Hopkins
Subject: RE: How to recycle packing material?

I love “Give Away Days”! What a great idea.

Along those lines, if anyone is not familiar with “Freecycling” groups, they can be another useful tool. You can go to Freecycle.org to connect to your nearest regional group (most metro areas have one), but there are other venues with similar groups.

Facebook has many such groups and you can post free stuff directly in Facebook Marketplace. No need for a special group. Personally, I find the Facebook tools unmanageable, but with it’s incredible reach, it is very effective.

Packing material requests and giveaways are a staple of my freecycle group.

Does anyone know of a such a group dedicated to museums and exhibit institutions?

Cheers,
tod

Tod Hopkins
Hillmann & Carr Inc.
Direct: 202-871-8350
Main: 202-342-0001


Original Message:
Sent: 1/11/2022 1:11:00 PM
From: Batja Bell
Subject: RE: How to recycle packing material?

Hi Cathy:

Thank you for being so conscientious!

Agreeing with Tod that this is a big problem in our profession, and preparators and collections staff have been thinking about lowering the environmental impact of exhibitions for decades.  Unfortunately, with few exceptions, institutions keep going back to the same materials (sigh), because they are effective and available.   And the cost of storage and the time involved in management of excess and used materials seems to outweigh other factors.          

If you are willing to invest a little time, however, at the very least you can consider passing materials along for reuse locally.   At a museum I worked for in the past, I set up "giveaway days" when we needed  to reduce our offsite storage capacity.

-- I prepared a list of what we needed to clear out:  packing materials, exhibition panels that could be repainted, exhibition cases that were no longer needed, crates, plexi with a few dings, and other materials.   

   

-- Assembled a contact list of local arts organizations, schools, art teachers in public schools, local and state parks with exhibition spaces, local small underfunded museums, community galleries, etc.

-- Set a couple of pickup dates and times, and notified contacts with a list of items and when they could come to collect.   

We were able to clear out a *lot* of our unused items that way, and get them to groups and individuals who needed this and were able to reuse, refurbish and keep them out of landfill.  

Artists liked the ex-exhibition text panels as painting support, and old crates which they could retrofit for their works   Parks and historic sites took dinged-up cases and pedestals and domes with scratches that were no longer "aestheically appealing" enough for art installations, but fine with a little work on their part.   Boxes and packing paper were helpful for other organizations in their moves.  The community art centers took crates, and cases that were too damaged for reuse were scrapped for material by artists.

Other items can be repurposed for your own needs, if not recycled.    Ethafoam scrap can be cut into 4 x 12 " blocks ("bumpers") and "elbow"  shapes; these are useful to stabilize flat works and keep them off the floor and from marking wall surfaces during installations.   (Ethafoam scrap can be recycled, but unfortunately, there are few recyclers and you need industrial-sized quantity for them to accept).     

I hope this gives you a few ideas!

Batja

     

--

Batja Bell

(she/her)

registration services

for art, artifacts & exhibitions

batja.bell@gmail.com

(office) 973-761-4090

(mobile/text) 862-205-7029

Original Message:
Sent: 1/10/2022 9:46:00 AM
From: Tod Hopkins
Subject: RE: How to recycle packing material?

Been there! Relieve your guilt. Some things should be landfilled. Recycling only makes sense when there is an effective system in place that provides a tangible benefit. Rather than getting into the weeds...

Foam, high-density or otherwise is practically unrecyclable. I say "practically" because there have been programs, but none that I'm aware of that actually have a measurable benefit.
Cardboard and paper, even glossy, are easy. You probably already have a system. If not, check with your local jurisdiction. There's somewhere you can take it.
Plastic film can be recycled at your local grocery bag drop-off: bags, air-pack bubbles, bubble wrap-any pliable, clean, plastic film. Remove any paper labels, deflate if necessary, bag it up and take it to your local grocery bag drop-off.
Hard plastics may be recyclable in your jurisdiction. Most programs only take food packaging but some take "plastic toys and other large plastic items." If you have a program like that you can try recycling rigid plastics. They will probably be pulled from the stream and end up in the trash anyway.

Thanks for caring. We do what we can.


------------------------------
Tod Hopkins
Technical Director
Hillmann & Carr Inc.
Washington DC
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-09-2022 05:38 PM
From: Cathy Callaway
Subject: How to recycle packing material?

Any of you who have had experience moving a museum knows how much packing material is generated. What do you do with it when you unpack? We were fortunate after our first move to have space in the basement of our new building to store packing materials -- just in case -- after our last move. But this time we are not so lucky to have any space for storage. I am particularly worried about what the high-density foam might do to the environment.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Cathy

Cathy Callaway, PhD
Museum Educator
Editor, MUSE
Museum of Art and Archaeology
Mizzou North, Room 2014
115 West Business Loop 70
University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO 65211-8310
(573) 882-5076

Hi Cathy,

There is so much to say about this subject. Great line of inquiry Cathy. I don't have time for a deep dive right now, but a quick thought is to get the word out to local artists. I have a relationship with a select few. They come and get bubble (even with tape all over it), foam, plastic sheeting (not recyclable locally here unfortunately,but good suggestion Tod), peanuts, and what not. I even have a guy who will take broken and scratched plexiglass and the backing paper to cut vinyl.

Our tougtoughht one is old crates and nitrle gloves, those are hard to find. homes for.
Good Luck,
Matt

------------------------------
Matthew Isble
Exhibit Designer & Founder of MuseumTrade.org
misble@crockerartmuseum.org
Crocker Art Museum
Sacramento CA
misble@crockerartmuseum.org
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-09-2022 05:38 PM
From: Cathy Callaway
Subject: How to recycle packing material?

Any of you who have had experience moving a museum knows how much packing material is generated. What do you do with it when you unpack? We were fortunate after our first move to have space in the basement of our new building to store packing materials -- just in case -- after our last move. But this time we are not so lucky to have any space for storage. I am particularly worried about what the high-density foam might do to the environment.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Cathy

Cathy Callaway, PhD
Museum Educator
Editor, MUSE
Museum of Art and Archaeology
Mizzou North, Room 2014
115 West Business Loop 70
University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO 65211-8310
(573) 882-5076

We have been recycling our nitrile gloves via Terracycle. Very easy to collect and process.

https://shop.terracycle.com/products/disposable-gloves-zero-waste-box

Beth

Elizabeth Heydt, Collections Manager
National Postal Museum
heydte@si.edu


------------------------------
Elizabeth Heydt
Collections Manager
National Postal Museum - Smithsonian Institution
Washington DC
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-10-2022 01:28 PM
From: Matthew Isble
Subject: How to recycle packing material?

Hi Cathy,

There is so much to say about this subject. Great line of inquiry Cathy. I don't have time for a deep dive right now, but a quick thought is to get the word out to local artists. I have a relationship with a select few. They come and get bubble (even with tape all over it), foam, plastic sheeting (not recyclable locally here unfortunately,but good suggestion Tod), peanuts, and what not. I even have a guy who will take broken and scratched plexiglass and the backing paper to cut vinyl.

Our tougtoughht one is old crates and nitrle gloves, those are hard to find. homes for.
Good Luck,
Matt

------------------------------
Matthew Isble
Exhibit Designer & Founder of MuseumTrade.org
misble@crockerartmuseum.org
Crocker Art Museum
Sacramento CA
misble@crockerartmuseum.org

Original Message:
Sent: 01-09-2022 05:38 PM
From: Cathy Callaway
Subject: How to recycle packing material?

Any of you who have had experience moving a museum knows how much packing material is generated. What do you do with it when you unpack? We were fortunate after our first move to have space in the basement of our new building to store packing materials -- just in case -- after our last move. But this time we are not so lucky to have any space for storage. I am particularly worried about what the high-density foam might do to the environment.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Cathy

Cathy Callaway, PhD
Museum Educator
Editor, MUSE
Museum of Art and Archaeology
Mizzou North, Room 2014
115 West Business Loop 70
University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO 65211-8310
(573) 882-5076