Episode 10: Down to Zero (and Beyond) - crafting a sustainable future

Join us on our journey toward a sustainable life and art practices

It's 2026! The Numbers are in!

Well 2025 was a bit of a whirlwind. From the TEDx talk last February, to my pink porifera being acquired by The Ringling Museum in Florida in April, to sculpture exhibitions, commissions, both large and small and finishing the year with work at the wonderful ING Discerning Eye exhibition - life has flown by.

We are now 3.5 years into our transition to sustainable, art practices and a life here in beautiful west wales. In the pink! 😂

Pink Porifera - Part of the Contemporary Glass Collection, The Ringling Museum, USA

The numbers for 2025 are in!

If you’ve followed our journey or caught my recent TEDx talk, "Melting Glass, Not the Planet," you know the question that drives our work: Can the energy-intensive art of glassblowing survive in a world that needs to cool down?

For a long time, we struggled with the "Industrial Heat" required to make glass. But as I shared on the stage, the answer isn't to stop creating—it’s to start restoring, open conversations and share - be a 'trim tab'.

Today, we’re putting more data behind the story. Our 2025 Studio Carbon Footprint Report is officially in, and it proves that art can be a catalyst for a net-positive future.

We aligned our audit with the UK Government’s March 2026 Environmental Reporting Standards to ensure we accounted for our carbon correctly. The 2025 Results (as per the graphic above):

• Gross Operational Emissions: 14.157 Tonnes CO_2e

• Nature-Based Removals: -14.516 Tonnes CO_2e

• Net Studio Impact: -0.359 Tonnes CO_2e

Because of our dedicated on-site rewilding—from native tree planting to pond creation—we have successfully reached a Carbon Negative status for the second year running.

One of the exciting parts of our 2025 journey was our contribution back to the community. As I discussed during our presentation, we have installed solar and wind to our studio to help generate the clean power we need and this year, we were able to return significant kWh of clean solar and wind energy to the UK grid.

This "Avoided Emission" saved 4.123 tonnes of carbon* from being released by traditional power plants.

*It has to be reported separately to avoid greenwashing- double counting as people buy the green electric from the grid and count it.)

The Legacy of the Object

I ended our TEDx talk by asking what kind of legacy our objects leave behind. By balancing our "Industrial Heat" with "Nature Restoration," we ensure that every glass piece or commission carries a legacy of healing rather than depletion.

Our 2026 Action Plan is already in motion—aiming to halve our digital storage and increase our use of recycled materials like stainless steel to further lower our Scope 3 impact.

We are melting glass, but we are restoring the landscape.

📽️ Watch the Journey:

If you haven’t seen the full story behind our project, you can watch my TEDx talk, "Melting Glass, Not the Planet," here: [https://youtu.be/UB9cJlRuRBo?si=rI2vwD8BGosxFOec]

Read the full report here.

Many thanks to Neil Wilkin (@neilwilkinglass) for sharing this journey, @TEDXaberystwyth for the opportunity to share this story, and last but not least, to all of you for your support and encouragement. It's all greatly appreciated.

#climatechange #art #creativepractice #contemporaryglass #contemporarysculpture #sustainableliving #marineconservation