Green Maker Initiative Event | Saturday 19 February 2022 | 11am - 5pm

GMI Pledged Maker: Precious Plastics Plymouth & Tavistock

GMI Pledged Maker: Lynette Price, Seaside Secrets

Jubilee Gallery & Events Space, Saturday 19 February 2022, 11am - 5pm

We are very excited to announce that on Saturday 19 February 2022 we will be taking over the Mill here at MAKE Southwest for our first ever Green Maker Initiative Event! Running 11am – 5pm, in the main, Jubilee Gallery [downstairs] and the workshops/events space [upstairs], this exciting event will include informative stands on local and community environmental causes, an exhibition from MAKE Southwest Member, Julia Manning on the theme of climate emergency, live creative demos, talks, workshops, the launch of a materials exchange, and a Perfectly Imperfect sale.

Special guests include Climate Emergency Bovey & Heathfield (CEBH), Precious Plastics Plymouth & Tavistock, The Wood Lab, Low Carbon Devon / University of Plymouth, and Mend Assembly.

The Perfectly Imperfect Sale

In a bid to try and reduce waste in the creative industries we are very pleased to announce that we will also be hosting a ‘Perfectly Imperfect sale’.
Everyone knows the ethos behind the ‘wonky veg’ for sale in supermarkets; just because they don’t look as perfect doesn’t make them any less tasty. Well, it’s the same for craft; just because there’s an air bubble in the glaze, or a stray stitch, or a scuff on the leather, doesn’t mean it is any less beautiful or practical! It’s all part of the charm of buying handmade.
Often makers don’t feel they can sell their imperfect items because they don’t reach their standards, which often means these items will end up in the bin. We want to help lift the stigma that these ‘seconds’ aren’t good enough and provide a space where makers can find customers who appreciate the beauty in the wobbles and the bumps.

Please note that individual makers will be responsible for taking their own payments (payments won’t be processed through MAKE Southwest) and it is up to the individual maker whether they accept cash and/or card. Items bought at the Perfectly Imperfect sale cannot be returned to MAKE Southwest: all post-purchase communication will need to be done directly with the individual maker.

Jubilee Gallery, Ground Floor

Exhibition: Julia Manning, The Decline of Eels. This exhibition tells the epic journey taken by eels in British waterways, from and to the Sargasso Sea, and the current environmental challenges they now face to survive.

Precious Plastics Plymouth & Tavistock: will be demonstrating how you can recycle your milk bottle tops using their amazing injection moulder to make soap dishes and the like.

Climate Emergency Bovey & Heathfield: come and find out what Bovey’s pro-active environmental group have planned for their community and beyond.

Mend Assembly: Moving away from a wasteful throwaway culture, Mend Assembly will be hosting a drop-in studio scraps / fabric off cuts session, promoting the value of skills and creativity sustainable making and reducing waste in the textiles industry.

Wood Lab: Come and meet the Wood Lab team and discover new ways of working with wood and local timber.

Low Carbon Devon & University of Plymouth: A giant map will be created on the walls of the gallery and will show Southwest makers who are actively engaged in reducing their environmental impact. Current or new members of the Green Maker Initiative are invited to come and put themselves on the map, promote their business and their green approach. Big or small actions, we all need to start somewhere! This is a great opportunity to learn about best practices, and tips and tricks for becoming more sustainable. The map will also feature sustainable materials and where they are created or can be sourced in the Southwest.

Makers and the making of the map will be documented in photography and film and will form part of a book about the Green Maker Initiative produced by Dr Emma Whittaker and Polly Macpherson, EDRF Low Carbon Devon, University of Plymouth. The map will be on display for a month following the GMI event.

Maker Showcase Gallery, Ground Floor

Pop-up studio: Bridget Macklin

MAKE Southwest Associate Maker Member and member of Design-Nation, Bridget Macklin will be replicating her Cornwall studio in our Maker Showcase!

As a ceramicist, Bridget is more than aware of the challenges that creatives face when trying to be more sustainable and is already working on a number of ways to try and combat this within her own practice.

Bridget will be in ‘her studio’ working on her beautiful hand built ceramics all day, so come along and watch her work or have a chat about sustainable making!

Events Space, First Floor

Perfectly Imperfect Sale: Stalls selling ‘imperfect’ work by our Green Maker Initiative Members.

Materials Exchange: to support makers in being more sustainable we are launching a materials exchange where you can drop off your (reusable) unwanted making materials in exchange for other donated resources. If a success, we hope to make the materials exchange a permanent fixture in MAKE Southwest’s HQ, Riverside Mill.

Natural Dyeing Demo: MAKE Southwest Member, Jane Deane, will be hosting a drop in demo session on setting up solar vats, no-heat dyeing, natural materials, low immersion, reusable/recyclable container that can itself be from previously discarded items.

Programme subject to change, this page will be updated if any changes are made.

When?

Saturday 19 February 2022

Where?

MAKE Southwest, Riverside Mill, Fore Street, Bovey Tracey, TQ13 9AF

Who?

This event is free and open to all. Members of the public are welcome to get involved with the demos and activities grab a bargain at the Perfectly Imperfect sale, but we especially invite creatives to come along to this event to network, discover new techniques and participate in the conversation about making craft more sustainable.

No booking needed - just turn up!

Get Involved

Any maker based in the Southwest can sign up to the pledge and become a member of the Green Maker Initiative. Find out more information and sign the pledge HERE. If you would like to avoid waste and have the opportunity to sell your imperfect work at our Perfectly Imperfect sale, you will need to sign the pledge to become a Green Maker and we will be in contact about selling at the event.

If you are a creative organisation or individual and you would like to find out how you can get involved with the event or the Green Maker Initiative in general (beyond signing the pledge), please email hello@makesouthwest.org.uk.

If you have any queries at all, please email hello@makesouthwest.org.uk (Mon - Fri) or call 01626 832223 (Tue - Fri).