Green Exhibits
Museums are taking a more active approach to the project development of their exhibits. Children's museums initiated the green museum movement, mainly out of health concerns for the young visitors. Using toxic materials and chemicals on structures intended for children became a high worry for both the museum staff and parents. "In its 2004 expansion project the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh used only adhesives, sealants, paints, carpets, and composite wood that are certified formaldehyde free with near-zero off-gassing."
Before the reduce, reuse, recycle mantra became mainstream, a small number of museums had already begun promoting sustainable decision making thru exhibits. One museum in particular, the Boston Children's Museum, developed a concept known as "The Recycle Shop". In 1970, this exhibit promoted the benefits of using manufactured waste materials, and turning them into artistic creations. Students, teachers, and the general public were allowed to collect art materials not otherwise found in regular stores. The Recycle Shop closed its doors after several years in operation, due to the recycling program that was later introduced across the United States.
Throughout the last several years, exhibit designers have expanded their businesses by building eco-friendly exhibits. Using environmentally safe materials such as low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) paints, formadelhyde-free wood products and fiberwood (composite wood) are the trademark tools for defining green exhibits. Some exhibit furniture products are also constructed to be shipped for flat packing. This helps to decrease shipping costs, reduce packing material, increase fuel efficiency which minimizes the overall carbon footprint of the exhibition.
How does a museum understand the criteria that is required, needed to build green exhibits? Organizations are working to develop a standard rating system, for the specific needs of green exhibitions. In 2007, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) created an aid to help museums assess the sustainability of their exhibits. OMSI, a scientific, educational, and cultural resource center looked to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, to create the OMSI Green Exhibit Certification.
The guide provides a checklist for organizations who follows eight elements regularly used in exhibit design. After evaluation, they are awarded 0-4 points:
- Rapidly Renewable Materials
- Resource Reuse
- Recycled Content
- End-life Assessment
- Low-Emitting Materials
- Certified Wood
- Conservation
- Regional Materials
There are other guides and checklists available online for museums that want to be active participants in the green community. The Madison Children's Museum in Madison, WI developed a checklist for museum exhibit designers and fabricators to create exhibits that showcase best practices for a healthier environment. Exhibit SEED is a larger project funded by the National Science Foundation titled Sustainability: Promoting Sustainable Decision Making in Informal Education.
Read more about this topic: Green Museum
Famous quotes containing the words green and/or exhibits:
“May they turn sour. May many mean things
happen upon them, no shepherds, no dogs,
a blight of the skin, a mange of the wool,
and they will die eating foreign money,
choking on its green alphabet.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“Every woman who visited the Fair made it the center of her orbit. Here was a structure designed by a woman, decorated by women, managed by women, filled with the work of women. Thousands discovered women were not only doing something, but had been working seriously for many generations ... [ellipsis in source] Many of the exhibits were admirable, but if others failed to satisfy experts, what of it?”
—Kate Field (1838–1908)