Craftworks Studio is a ‘paint your own pottery’ studio in the heart of Castletown.
Guests paint pottery, in a relaxed setting, and after firing is complete, take it home for years (and sometimes decades) of use.
To serve drinks to guests, the studio uses ceramic mugs to serve coffee and tea and has switched from plastic coffee sachets to a bean-to-cup machine, sourcing milk from the Isle of Man creamery.
The business reuses plastics and other packaging that its materials arrive in and generates little waste.
We try to ensure that the cardboard boxes that our stock arrives in have a second life:
- As the box that you carry away your precious pottery pieces in when you come to collect.
- Some of the cardboard is composted.
- Some goes to recycling facilities on the island.
- If you have a need for cardboard please get in touch!
Plastic packaging has reduced significantly over the years. Nearly every piece used to arrive wrapped in its own plastic bag, but our main supplier has now ceased this practice.
- We do though have a supply of bubble wrap envelopes (pockets?) that might be suitable for your onward use - please get in touch if that is of interest.
The bottles that our underglaze arrives in have a second life too. Once they are emptied they are cleaned and washed ready for their second use at the Port Erin Health store, where their customers can take away environmentally friendly products (even if they forgot to bring a refill bottle!).
The 10 gallon buckets that our clear glaze arrives in have a second use either as food composting containers, or as planters in allotments.
Leftover clay slip and clay trimmings at the studio are stored and recycled for re-use, making some of our bisque products.
The studio uses bamboo toilet rolls from Cheeky Panda. We also use refillable eco-handwash products, and eco surface cleaning fluid supplied in concentrated form, helping us to reduce the number of bottles required during the year.
The studio has also installed low-energy lighting, with the bright LED strips proving to be much better to paint under than the old fluorescents - cheaper to run too!
As a Biosphere Partner, the studio is pleased to host meetings of other Biosphere Partners. (By arrangement).
