Environmentally Safe Canvases and Paper

Here are a few sources that I found that sell organic cotton and hemp canvases. With the exception of Signature Canvas, these mainly come in rolls, which would need to be hand stretched and gessoed by the artists themselves. However, many artists prefer to stretch their own canvases, so these alternatives may not be that disagreeable.

Earth Friendly Goods: Hemp, organic, sustainable materials.

Signature Canvas doesn't sell organic canvas, but they incorporate Green ideals in the creation of their canvases. You can learn more by going to their website.

Silk Road Fabrics: US Grown organic cotton canvas.

NearSea Naturals: Organic cotton and hemp canvas

Here are some companies that use Environmentally friendly papers or incorporate some kind of Socially Conscious practices:

The Natural Zone: Hemp paper

Indian Village Handmade Watercolor Paper: Handmade by and directly supports rural Indian villagers. This is part of a movement began by Mahatma Gandhi, in which he encouraged small villages to create employment and improve economic conditions. Papermaking was one of the major activities in this program.

Daler Rowney supposedly creates environmentally friendly papers and boards. I found this information on another site, though I could not find anything on the Daler-Rowney site nor have a received a response from the company itself. I am not sure if this is completely accurate, but I thought I would post it just in case.

"Wood pulp used in the production of Daler-Rowney paper and board products, comes from managed forest estates in Europe and North America. These estates harvest and replant trees specifically for paper and board production and annually plant more trees than are felled. No trees from South America Rainforests or endangered hardwood species are used. All our paper and board purchases are produced from either Oxygen or Chlorine Dioxide bleached pulps and as such can be classified as Chlorine free."

Strathmore Artist Papers produce a line of papers made using windpower. That's kind of cool!

I hope this helps to get other artists thinking about how they can begin to incorporate some "green" practices into their own art making. Just one little change can be a good start!

DoAn