UN AVENIR PLUS VERRE
Espace VERRE has made great strides in adopting environmental practices in its everyday routine. We are constantly looking for ways to minimize our environmental footprint in our workspaces and in our activities. Since 2022, a committee was created that includes members of the board of directors, employees, teachers and students. They have regularly assembled to assure the progress of Un Avenir Plus Verre.
Latest initiatives
The major projects launched in 2023-2024 have been finalized, optimized or continued. For example:
- Sliding doors and a ventilation system were installed to optimize the lifespan of oxygen concentrators;
- The Glassblowing with recycled glass week-end class, enabling experimentation with the peculiarities of glass from recovered bottles to create utilitarian objects, was held for the second time.
New actions concerned both operations and raising awareness among the glassmaking community:
- Implementing new practices for better management of recycled glass in the hot glass studio;
- Preparing the fall 2025 group exhibition, which will be entitled Matières Secondes, Créations Premières, and whose theme is: Recycled, recovered and/or reused glass.
Our achievements since 2022
■ The application of a new combustion system for the glory holes.
Impact: savings on the gas consumption.
■ The installation of hand dryers to replace paper dispensers and the distributed rags in student tool kits.
Impact: a reduction of the use of paper towels.
■ The organization of a fundraising event in 2023 to help finance the first projects of the year.
■ The creation of a study grant to encourage the emergence of artistic projects integrating ecological concepts: The Verre & Société Bursary was created in 2023.
■ The replacing of all lightbulbs and neon lighting fixtures in the building with LED lighting, which consumes less energy, are recyclable, and are free of any harmful gases or substances.
■ The introduction of a new class intitled “Glassblowing with Recycled Glass”, which allows advanced weekend students as well as students from the glass programme, the possibility of blowing glass with salvaged glass bottles to create utilitarian objects.
■ The planification of changing the oxygen supply system for all torches: this will replace weekly delivered oxygen tanks with oxygen concentrators, allowing the constant generation of oxygen and thus control the supply of oxygen for all the torches.
Impacts: The reduction of our carbon footprint and the self-sufficiency of the school.
■ The integration of composting.