The practice of adopting sustainable practices for cultural institutions has become an increasingly relevant topic in recent years. But what can small and mid-sized organizations do to adopt actions, even small ones, that can play a role in mitigating the climate crisis and preventing climate-caused emergencies? Closing out a month of #MayDayPrep C2C Care has asked speakers from various organizations to share ways that their institutions are developing practices in disaster preparation all based in sustainable practices.
Sustainable Salvage: How to reduce the environmental impact of your emergency kit with Lorraine Finch
To be sustainable our attitude to stuff, including that in emergency kits, needs to change to refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle. How do we do this with our emergency kits? Sustainable salvage has the answers! During this section Lorraine Finch will guide you through six simple actions you can take to improve the sustainability of your emergency kit and as a result reduce the impact of your kit on the climate and the environment.
Implementation of sustainability practices in collections spaces for small and mid-sized with Crista Pack
Climate and environmental changes have altered communities across the world. Museums and cultural sites are becoming more responsive around environmental sustainability due to the negative impact of climate induced disasters. Crista Pack will highlight the sustainability journey of the Missouri Historical Society and strategies that the organization implemented to lessen their environmental impact while focusing on the preservation of cultural heritage. Mitigation strategies can be implemented within large and small cultural sites to decrease the negative impact of climate induced disasters affecting cultural heritage sites and materials.
Cost-Efficient and Environmentally Responsible Preservation Methods for Preparing Paper-Based Objects for Transit and Display with Al Carver-Kubik
It is commonly accepted that the proper crating and packing will prevent disaster in transit when objects are vulnerable to incorrect temperature, RH, and handling. While some materials used to protect paper-based objects in transit can be reused, many are not reusable or recyclable, producing a significant amount of non-biodegradable waste. Al Carver-Kubik will share field survey results from the Image Permanence Institute (IPI) IMLS grant funded project currently in progress to determine the most cost-efficient and environmentally responsible methods of preparing paper-based collection objects for transit and display while maintaining preservation standards.
Presenters
Lorraine Finch ACR Chair – Icon Environmental Sustainability Network. Lorraine is a Director and Trustee of the Institute of Conservation (Icon). She is co-founder and Chair of the Icon Environmental Sustainability Network, whose mission is to encourage the take up of positive environmental practices in cultural heritage. Lorraine has often been described as a ‘hippy tree hugger’. She’s this plus an activist, social entrepreneur and accredited conservator. She is founder and director of LFCP, which is accelerating the cultural heritage sector’s climate and environmental actions through research, knowledge sharing and resource creation.
Crista Pack, Conservator, Missouri Historical Society. Crista Pack has been the Objects Conservator for the Missouri Historical Society (MHS) since 2014. Her work there focuses on preserving the St. Louis region’s material culture, ranging from pre-historic to the present day. Ms. Pack received her M.S. degree from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (2013) and her M.A. in Art History from Virginia Commonwealth University (2006). Her conservation experiences prior to starting at MHS include positions at Arizona State Museum, Museums of New Mexico, Alaska State Museum, Eiteljorg Museum, and Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
Al Carver-Kubik, Research Scientist at the Image Permanence Institute. Al Carver-Kubik teaches and conducts preservation research with expertise in print and photographic processes. Al has served as a photographs reviewer for the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s Save Our African American Treasures program since 2009 and is co-author of In the Darkroom: An Illustrated Guide to Photographic Processes Before the Digital Age (2010) and has contributed research about photographic materials to several other publications including the Thames and Hudson Dictionary of Photography (2015), and Platinum and Palladium Photographs: Technical History, Connoisseurship, and Conservation (2017), and The Preservation Management Handbook, 2nd edition (2020). He has a MA in Photographic Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University in coordination with the George Eastman Museum. Before joining IPI, he worked in museums and galleries as a conservation technician, researcher, object preparator, and archival consultant.
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