The Environmental Impact of Tattoos from a Tattooed Environmentalist
I’m an environmentalist who has tattoos…does that mean I’m a bad environmentalist? Nope! But do tattoos have a negative environmental impact? Sure do.
A few weeks ago, I publicly acknowledged the impact of my blue hair on the planet. I know it’s not a positive thing to do for the planet but it’s not the worst thing I do and it has a positive impact on me. Is that a good reason for doing something? I think it depends on what it is.
If you use that as an excuse to take a flight every week because traveling is good for your mental health or if you use it as an excuse to order a massive haul from Shein every week because you enjoy it, that’s overconsumption.
There’s a difference between getting two tattoos a year and one tattoo every week in the same way that there’s a difference between taking 1-2 vacations a year and frivolously traveling every week. Think about it in terms of your bodily health. Eating a piece of cake once a week probably won’t kill you. But, eating cake for every meal might start to take its toll. This is similar to the health of the planet.
I don’t think we have to give up the things that bring us joy if we do them in moderation. Or, better yet, find ways to make our hobbies and enjoyment more eco-friendly which you can learn more about here.
So, I sit here and I acknowledge that getting a tattoo creates some physical waste and the ink probably isn’t that great for my skin or the planet quite frankly. But, I get them in moderation and it’s not something that I want to give up.
Let’s discuss, then, the environmental impact of tattoos
I started getting tattoos when I was but a baby environmentalist who only cared about recycling. It wasn’t until I moved to Vegas when I really started to dive into my activism that I started to question the eco-impact of tattoos. To be clear, I never thought about giving them up, but it was important to me to understand the impact of this enjoyment.
Plastic
Of course, there’s a lot of plastic involved:
The ink bottles
The ink cups
Plastic-wrap for tattoo aftercare
Plastic wrap for the tables, tattoo machines, armrests, lights, and more for hygienic reasons
Plastic gloves
Plastic razors so that they can tattoo on perfectly smooth skin
Markers used to draw on the skin
The stencil paper likely has plastic in it
It’s not plastic, but the needles are disposable for health reasons (thank GOODNESS)
You get the idea. It’s plastic-heavy.
Ink
The ink really isn’t that great, either. It’s not good for our skin most likely, too. Turn away now if you don’t want to know…
Tattoo ink has been known to have heavy metals in it such as lead, cadmium, and arsenic to name a few. This won’t stop me. Maybe I have a death wish? Maybe I just like cool art on my skin. Thankfully, this is more old-school. There are some newer inks that do not contain heavy metals! But, they are most likely heavy in animal products so these more eco options are not vegan. Of course, plant-based inks exist they might just cost more and/or be harder to find a shop using them so keep an eye out! I hope to see plant-based inks become the norm.
Energy
Modern tattooing requires a lot of energy from the bright lights in the shop to the tattoo machines to the artist drawing your tattoo digitally to printing out the stencils to running the AC in the building and having music on. There’s a lot that goes into running a tattoo shop. Of course, I would rather them have good lighting and draw in the medium they prefer than get a bad tattoo. But some things they could implement here is LED lightbulbs, opening the windows instead of using the AC, looking into a shop solar panel if that’s in the budget, and things of that nature.
How I minimize tattoo waste
Thankfully, more and more shops are moving to more eco methods of tattooing. Yes, I know, I get my tattoos in pretty “woke” states like Nevada, Washington, and California, but even in Ohio, I witnessed this. Shops will use bioplastic razors, bioplastic gloves, bioplastic ink cups, and the like. It’s not perfect, but bioplastics are less harmful than regular plastics.
I also carefully choose my artists to make sure it is something I want on my body forever. It’s more wasteful to go back for a cover-up or a full removal. Plus, as a bonus, I look for shops that use bioplastics and/or limit their plastic-usage as far as they can while also being hygienic.
Once I arrive, I tell them precisely the size and placement of the tattoo. If you don’t know how the process works, most of the time they essentially put a temporary tattoo on you that they drew in order to have a stencil on your body. They can take off and re-do this as many times as necessary, but it does come with waste. Of course, I’m not going to sacrifice getting a tattoo in a place I don’t like for one small piece of paper, but I do my best to tell them precisely where to place it in the hopes that we get it right on the first try.
Once it’s tattoo time, I sit down and let them get to work. I bring my own water and snacks that are low waste either from the bulk store or handmade to prevent having to snag any last-minute snacks or have food delivered in a lot of plastic.
As you can see, most of my tattoos are black and gray. I have a splotch of blue, a stripe of orange, and a tiny dot of red. I like the look of black and gray but it’s also more eco-friendly. It requires fewer ink cups, fewer needles, and usually colored inks are the most harmful solutions.
If I have multiple tattoos in mind, I will get them done in the same sitting to reduce plastic usage. They have to wrap the tables, arm stands, tattoo machines, and so forth in plastic for hygiene’s sake and I would never ask any business to compromise hygiene. So, if I get multiple tattoos in one sitting, they don’t have to re-wrap their stuff for me at a later date, therefore saving plastic.
When done, they almost always wrap the tattoo. I prefer second-skin because it says on better but also because it can be cut into smaller pieces than saran wrap. But, if they recommend it, I am fine going wrap-free for the health of my tattoo and the planet.
For tattoo aftercare, I use what I have which is usually a low-scent Plaine Product refill. But, I have also tested other tattoo aftercare in this video and highly recommend a few of those brands. Should I need more, I’m happy to run back to a few of them. I like to choose brands I can refill and/or come in recyclable or reusable packaging to reduce waste here as well. But, use what you have! If you already have a plastic bottle of unscented lotion, that’s the most eco option.
Should we stop tattooing?
I can’t say that tattooing is GOOD for the planet unless you’re doing it in a traditional way with no electricity, charcoal ink, and animal bones as needles. So, do with that what you will.
I personally won’t be giving up tattoos. I love expressing myself and I love collecting cool art. I think I am being a bit more mindful about tattoos in my old age (lol) than I used to be in my early 20s. I have some dumb tattoos, not gunna lie, but I love them just the same.
But, the tattoo industry doesn’t even come close to making the cut as one of the most wasteful industries. I would rather focus my energy somewhere else. I drive a car a lot more often than I get tattoos. I buy a lot more hummus in plastic than I use in plastic per year for tattoos. So, I’d rather focus on giving up my car more often and making hummus from scratch for example. Those (and more) things in my life produce much more waste than tattoos.
I said it in my blue hair video and I’ll say it here: we should focus our energy where we can make the most impact. If I gave up my two tattoos per year, that is not going to make or break anything. But, if I give up my one bottle of plant milk per week, that would have a much larger impact. Instead of stressing about the small waste in your life (especially the small waste that brings you joy) focus on the larger areas of waste. Hopefully, that makes sense.
Is this another post of me making excuses? Maybe, maybe not. But I now that if I had 0 tattoos instead of 27 or whatever number I have, the planet would not be saved. If the tattoo industry shut down right now, the planet would not be saved. Of course, there is no ONE solution to climate change, I get that. But, again, I would rather focus my energy on a more wasteful industry like fast fashion, transportation, or animal agriculture for example.
I feel like I’m talking in circles so I’ll leave you there. Do tattoos, don’t do them, it’s up to you. But getting tattoos does not make you an environmentalist. The only thing you have to do to be an environmentalist is to care and the only thing you have to do to be zero waste is reduce as much as you can. You don’t have to give up your hobbies or the things you enjoy.
Thanks for reading along, I hope you have a lovely day and remember that your small actions make a big difference in the long run :)
Emma
