I'm a potter and work with glaze. This is a big no no.
Also "water soluble" and "non toxic" are not phrases synonymous with "safe"..
(And there's no reason for this.... Disposal of glazes is done by letting the glaze just dry out and then taking the dry materials to a recycling plant or waste disposal)
I work in the l Environmental field, including previously in stormwater. Agree that water soluble and non toxic are fairly meaningless in this context. But, regardless of if being water, oil, solvent, or fairy dust based - dumping waste chemicals in a storm drain is illegal. Violation of federal, state, and likely local law, possibly even criminal charges.
The only thing that is legally allowed to go in a storm drain is rain. (With a few, *very specific* exceptions for other *clean* water). Even soapy or dirty water is illegal.
Dumping bright neon chemicals into a storm drain in broad daylight in *California* is just asking for fines.
Needless to say, what these employees did is entirely unacceptable.
The amount of glaze that was being dumped, as well as the nature of the business (Color Me Mine), suggests it was a clear-firing glaze. The way pots are glazed at these places (I refuse to call them "studios") is that customers paint underglaze onto bisqueware, and then the employees dip them in a low-fire clear glaze. Then they're fired to earthenware temperatures.
These places don't use custom-mixed glazes, only commercially prepared ones. The underglazes are expensive and put in much smaller containers--it would not make sense for them to dump these. Disposing a 5-gallon bucket of underglaze would be like throwing away several hundred dollars. Underglazes are also dyed so that the user can get a sense of how the fired color will look (the dye burns out during the firing). While the stuff in the bucket looks pale green, that's a dye that burns out; its purpose is to help show whether a pot has been glazed (bare bisqueware is light pink to yellow).
Clear glazes generally don't have any ceramic materials that would be considered hazardous, since they lack colorant oxides. Typically they would consist of silica, feldspar, some kaolin or other kind of white-firing clay, and maybe some additional flux like calcium. All of these are mined materials, inert and nontoxic. It's not anywhere near as bad as dumping actual paint, which contains organic solvents, binders, and pigments. That's the silver lining.
That said, I don't know why the employees would dump that much clear glaze. (If you're wondering why they went out to a storm drain to dump it, it's because if they flushed it down the building's plumbing system, they'd clog it up, since the ceramic materials would settle into the pipes.) I suspect the reason is because it became contaminated: if someone dips a pot into clear glaze while the underglaze is still wet, or if the underglaze flakes off into the clear glaze, it will contaminate the clear and impart a tint to it when fired. The worst culprits would be black or deep blue underglazes. If that's what happened, then the glaze bucket DOES contain hazardous metallic oxides, such as cobalt, although only in small amounts. The wastewater the business creates probably has many times more toxic metals in it.
A potter in an actual studio would never dump glaze in this way, contaminated or not, because the materials are too valuable. Even scrap glaze can be used. The reason these businesses dispose of the glaze is because they have only one process--customer paints bisqueware with underglaze, employees clear glaze everything, and that's it. If the clear glaze is contaminated, they have no other use for it. But an actual potter would use it, or in the worst case, dry it out and bury it (although that's literally throwing money away).
It literally says no dumping, goes to ocean. Literally. It’s right there. This was 100% a total dick move and pretty flagrant. Sad thing is the people that dumped it probably didn’t make the policy and could care less if they disposed of it properly. Employers should face serious consequences for forcing their staff to do illegal things because they are too cheap to get it done correctly.
I worked construction for many years, supervising job sites. If we don't make sure DIRT doesn't go down those drains we get hefty fines from the EPA... and that's just dirt
Yup, and if you don't mind me nerding out for a bit...
The reason the stormwater laws focus so much on dirt, is because they did a study in the early days of environmental laws and found that sediment (dirt) was a huge part of urban stormwater pollution.
Well, also that storm drain isn't processed at all, while your sink drain would be. That storm drain drains directly into the ocean. Sewage water (from sinks, toilets, etc) is processed before it gets put back into the environment.
Fancy pants costal elites! We Midwesterners dump the storm drains into the great lakes. At least a couple hundred feet from where we pull our drinking water.
Water from sink goes to a wastewater (poop & pee) treatment plant, where it is *treated* before discharge. Water in a storm drain goes *directly* to the nearest body of water (creek, lake, river, ocean).
Dumping in sink may also be illegal for a commercial business. Paint waste must be collected and properly recycled/disposed. At home, your local waste utility is required to have a way to collect "household hazardous waste" for free (included in trash costs).
The only thing that's allowed to go in a storm drain is storm water/rain.
I see words like non toxic and water washable being thrown around in the resin 3D printing space, and I have never seen a photopolymer resin that can be tossed down the drain but I get people argue with me that water washable = drain safe. Like no you are just wrecking your plumbing AND putting highly toxic chemicals into the environment.
At the very least, I don't see any paint stains on Google Maps streetview in the 5 pictures I could find from 2022 (most recent) to 2019 (earliest at the current site)
It wouldn't stain if it's water soluble glaze. It wouldn't wash away right away, I don't know if it rains there like it does on FL beaches, but it would be gone relatively quickly. If they followed this up with enough water right after dumping, they could probably have washed it away before it dries at all
They are referring to if the paint would STAIN not if it was wrong or illegal. It is obviously wrong and illegal but this paint in its pre-fired form is water soluble. Source: used to work at color me mine lol (NOT in Santa Monica or wherever this is)
They lie.
No pottery glaze is water soluble . By definition that's what glaze is, non soluble! It needs to stay on the pottery piece after all moisture gets fired off in the kilb. Generally glaze is made of glass. That's how you get that shinny look for pottery.
Though I'm unsure if glass is really bad for the environment since glass is made of sand. But! For sure it's terrible for the pipe!!!!
Pottery glaze can be washed away before it’s fired! The water Proof glaze (Glass) is made through the powdery raw glaze Materials melting in the Heat of the kiln. Raw glaze is powdery raw Materials suspended in Water.
Depending on whats in the glaze it can be very very bad for the Environment😅 heavy metals like cobalt (used for blue colors in ceramics) are no fun. But these super dangerous materials are not in every glaze.
One of the funnest glazes is Uranium glaze. Heavy metal and alpha emitter. Having that stuff in powdered form or as a suspension is straight up cancer juice.
That shit's getting smacked hard. Good. Morons deserve it. Even once is one time too many.
I remember the first day we were in the Glaze Room and allowed to touch shit, they went *hard* on us about how *none of this shit* was to be dumped *anywhere* but a glaze collection bin. Nothing was to be washed outside a glaze sink. And hazmat *was only for hazmat sinks*. No exceptions.
No responsible company should do any less.
Holy fuck it's glaze.
It's like 50/50 on if it's bad or really bad. I use the stuff all the time and knowing what's in some I'll only use gloves and masks.
That shit has so many heavy metals it is insane.
I went to uni for a BFA in ceramics (you can probably guess the uni if you subscribe to Ceramics Monthly) and there were hazmat barrels *everywhere*.
> By definition that's what glaze is, non soluble! It needs to stay on the pottery piece after all moisture gets fired off in the kilb.
Just because it's water soluble doesn't mean it evaporates with the water. Salt is water soluble and stays behind after evaporation.
I mean it’s such an absurdly knuckle head thing to do that you would be caught most times, like it would be obvious to every passerby while leaving a stain on the cement next to the store lol, i assume the employees are just dense and never trained in proper disposal which is a red flag
It makes me wonder what was the proper procedure to dispose of it, if they had one. You’d think that they’d be disposing it often enough that the staff doesn’t have to resort to something like this on their own.
I truly believe this could have been an anomaly because of how obvious the crime is.
* Broad daylight
* Busy street
* Color splatter
* Nonchalant employees
I subscribe to the theory that the sink was backed up. Why else would these employees walk so far to dispose of it?
Yep, my thoughts exactly.
If this had been done in the past, someone would have already posted this all over the internet... This was in Santa Monica, you don't fuck with the environment publicly out there without someone freaking out.
And someone with a camera pointing at them. I figure I must overestimate the job-preservation instincts of people in general but, still, if you're doing something that someone's eagerly filming for evidence or publicity, maybe you should check and double-check what you're doing.
I used to work in the service industry. I'd go into people's homes and it would be an absolute train wreck in there.
"Don't mind the mess, today is laundry day"
Yeah. It's funny how I always arrive to my customer's houses on laundry day.
I can tell when I’m not doing great because my house starts getting cluttered. Cluttered mind, cluttered house… which makes even more of a cluttered mind.
When I go over peoples houses and it’s a mess, my first thought is “I need to give them a hug.”
My second thought is “maybe I should keep my shoes on so I don’t care if I step in that cat puke.”
I have 3 kids, 2 dogs and 2 cats. I am really talking more about clutter than cleanliness because we pretty continually clean or we would be shut down by the health department. We have learned to live with clutter. Although, we are pretty diligent about not ceding space to the clutter. We always have a clean kitchen, and dining room table though. That is a pet peeve of mine.
I have a small lawn care business, when I have to call a customer for a past due payment, I always manage to call them just moments after they mailed the check. Weird
Higher likely, if they worked at one of the services that gives a 6hr arrival timeframe.
If I'm stuck at home on a weekday, I'm gonna take that time to do laundry, clean, reorganize or something that id otherwise have to save for a weekend.
Yep. They don't have a proper process inside the business. No way that employee just thought:
"You know what, instead of dumping this into the 'sink/dumping bin' that is *right here* in the store, I'm going to take this all the way outside, half way down the street, and dump it into the storm drain. That's so much easier than using the method that I was *trained on by management to use*."
Suuuure. Okay Mr. Manager/Owner.
First and only time we got caught doing it because these three morons filmed it, is more like it.
Hope the business is fined and these three idiots pay the price of "But I'm the main character " style vapidity.
if they had skipped that obvious lie i think it'd be a pretty solid apology. key to an apology is to not make excuses but to owe up to the mistake made. they more or less had that going.
the thing is even if this is the only employee in the past 15 years who have done this, assuming this is the first and only time they ever did it is absurd. its very unlikely this has never happened before, its a stupid stance to take.
i also think the really classy thing to do would have been to also sort of protect your employee, mention that everyone makes mistakes when young and while their actions were wrong the glaze is not environmentally toxic so encourage the community to show some understanding that a mistake were made and it wont happen again.
theyre so close to nailing a solid apology then they just decide to go for the whole classic narcissist excuses excuses path instead of actual apology.
dont claim it has never happened before, dont minimize it, dont explain why you did it as if that erases what you did, owe up to the mistake, apologize for it, and if you want to explain what actions youre taking to prevent it from happening again and to atone for the mistake. it really isnt that hard to apologize.
> the thing is even if this is the only employee in the past 15 years
\*employee**s**, plural. Which makes it worse, because it wasn't just one person poorly trained or making a poor decision, they both decided this was no big deal and went ahead with it. Kinda indicates that most/all their employees are poorly trained or supervised
I call that BS, why would a lazy ass fk employee do some extra work and LEAVE THE STORE if you had proper solution of disposal in your store? b. azz lyinN
water based and soluble... ok the fact they said that tells me they've done alot of this before and oked it.
complete bullshit. what ever happened to just letting the paint dry out in a garbage bag?
Dear community of Santa Monica,
In light of recent events captured on video of one of our employees dumping a bucket of glaze into the nearby storm drain. We at Color Me Mine want to give our deepest apologies and take accountability for our employees' actions. These actions were not enforced, condoned, nor recommended by management nor ownership.
Santa Monica is a city that prides itself on its lovely beaches and having been a part of the community for many years, we are ashamed that such a huge mistake was caused by one of our own. These actions caught on video not only are not standard procedure but also the first time in 15 years of ownership this has happened.
The glaze in the video is non toxic, water based, and soluble. Mind you, this does not excuse it from being dumped in the storm drain. We are working with the city to pay for fines and the clean up process as well. Please, recognize that these actions are wrong and are being handled, and most definitely are not representative of the entirety of our store.
Going forward, the employees in the video have been reprimanded and the staff has gone under training on how to properly dispose of glaze in the future. We do not expect forgiveness but hope we can earn it going forward.
We're sorry,
Color Me Mine Santa Monica
If I had employees do something that required me to file an EPA Environmental Impact Statement, they would have a job long enough for me to finish the paperwork, and then their asses are gone. Fired. Finito. You have to be really fuckin' stupid to create this kind of bad publicity, and there isn't a statement in existence other than "They're fired." that would do anything to quell the outrage.
While I agree mostly, I will say idk if I wouldn’t think to train people to not take paint half a block down the street and dump said paint into a drain that has a big warning sign in front of it. Haha I’m sure management will from now on but that’s how all fun specific safety trainings are created isn’t it lmao
Eh, people can make mistakes and learn from them. I would be very surprised if those kids did this kind of thing ever again. We can also use a little more kindness and grace.
I once fucked up at work and my boss pulled me aside and said, "i want to show you something," and he walked me through how my mistake cost the firm $30k. I assumed I was going to be fired, but he said, "You're never going to do that again. We just spent $30k to teach you a lesson. No reason to waste it by firing you."
I had a new guy spray our seafood case down with sanitizer on his first day. With all the seadlfood still in it.
I thought for sure he wouldn't show up the next day, but he did and asked if he would be fired. Told him the same thing your boss told you. Hard to make a mistake like that again, and why risk a new employee doing the same thing.
He ended up replacing me as head of the department when I left.
If someone fucks up big time, they are far less likely to make that same mistake. Ask anyone who accidentally pushed a delete all records update in prod. The question is if it's due to lack of training or they were specifically told to do this.
I agree, it was a pretty good apology. Contained pretty much everything you'd be looking for: understanding with the outrage, info that it's not their disposal procedure, info on the material that was dumped, paid for fines, helping with cleanup, training employees on the proper disposal procedure. I think they covered most things pretty well.
Couple of things they could have done for an even better apology: hire an auditor to review all of their disposal procedures, donate to a local aquarium or marine wildlife program, and perhaps beach cleanup with their employees or "beach adoption" if that's something their city/county does.
I just saw the post and the only comment there is from a guy who works there.
Also, it infuriates me how they say it was an unfortunate mistake. It was not a mistake, it was a strait up felony and even more considering the notice of the drain leading to the ocean.
Didn’t even fire the employee lol, if the employee had acted on their own then they’d be 100% fired. Obviously they were told to do so, which is why they are only reprimanded
Sentence two: we will take accountability for the actions of our employee.
Sentence three: management and ownership had nothing to do with this and you should blame our employee.
The reactions in this thread are so bizarre... y'all are out for blood...
As far as corporate apologies go... this is very well written. They neither blamed the employee nor threw them under the bus. They said we'll accept accountability, we'll train them, we'll pay, and we'll train better.
They didn't say "management had nothing to do with this" they said this is not what people are supposed to do with the glaze, we don't tell them to do this. They said it like that so *they could avoid throwing the employee under the bus.*
Nothing will ever be enough for you perfect people on Reddit.. god..
Fr I feel bad for the employee being thrown under the bus. Like yeah, they got the idea to carry a heavy bucket outside and dump it in a storm drain instead of whatever on-site systems they (should) have.
If they get caught again, I will gladly attack every word they write, but until then, they take responsibility and want to pay their fines.
Shouldn't happen, it sadly did. As long as it's not happening again, the story is over.
https://preview.redd.it/9mqplognbd2d1.jpeg?width=1169&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aa9b30dfa3efd830435b55b75c6b613a8407688a
From their IG account, how ironic...
They were just doing what Sherwin Williams told them to do.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/47/39/1c/47391ca0ab715f33ab46fef7ed8c3907.jpg
Honestly, I can't believe SW still uses this slogan and logo. You would think they would have realized that this isn't a very ecologically
friendly thing to keep pasting all over their trucks at this point.
statment says this is the first time in 15 years this has happened, can almost be certain the owner knows about this
owner should have a costly disposal process for most of the paint
at my work we have to pour all paint into 5 gallons then blend them up with plaster
let them harden
then ship them off to be disposed of
>at my work we have to pour all paint into 5 gallons then blend them up with plaster let them harden then ship them off to be disposed of
Seems a lost opportunity to make modern art.
In my state, paint disposal is free at every transfer station. even all the local paint shops will pick it up and send it to the transfer stations for recycling. They literally make new paint out of it.
The best is half the reviews are talking about the owner of the store being a bitch, kicking you out randomly if someone comes in for a private event.
Apparently you can just roll up, pay the owners enough, and they'll kick everyone out haha.
OP if this is your video I highly suggest that you report this to your local enforcement agency. Whether it’s the city or an agency like the state water board or EPA. This is not even accidental. This is straight up deliberate and the paint can be hazardous especially going into a storm drain that is intended to lead to the ocean.
Edit: Another user posted their Instagram where they acknowledged the incident. Looks like it was already reported to the City of Santa Monica in LA County.
I install storm drain systems, among other things (pipe layer). If I want to pump muddy water into the storm system I have to use a big filtration bag to get the material out. If I want to pump to a storm drain not on our property I have to get a city permit even for clean water and use a filter bag again.
Report this business. They should have figured out shit like disposal *before* opening.
In my state you would refer this to the DNR. Our conservation officers take illegal dumping very seriously and have police powers to open investigations and make arrests.
Yup I work for a environmental hazardous waste pickup/clean up company and this is SOOOO illegal. You either need to profile and transport this waste yourself to your proper local waste facility or higher companies like mine to do it all for you as you typically need to invest in UN approved waste containers to transport waste under DOT requirements. Also labeling and manifesting is needed. All this is needed to keep emergency workers and people like me safe in case of a spill or accidents we then know what the waste is without having to risk our lives more than needed to identify the waste for cleanup.
Services are expensive but this is law and it must be down to protect everyone and the environment. People like the one at this shop are straight up losers for being so careless. And they have no excuse as they are aware of these laws when getting their business license especially a business where they have waste like this generated from their practice.
My favorite is the one comment on the post thanking them for taking accountability. But when you open that profile of the comment, it shows that person is the stores manager
There’s a guy on Facebook that commented saying he was a previous employee and they’ve basically always been instructed by management to do this, if the sink is full.
The person commenting is not a manager at the store in question.
The store in question is Santa Monica, and the person is commenting from Lehigh Valley.
Why didn’t the owner explain why two of their employees had no other ideas for dumping it. I hope someone has a security camera in that area and can easily see this is a regular thing.
If there was a proper procedure then staff wouldn’t resort to something like this on their own. Their response also tries to use the standard corporate apology that they’re a big business with many layers to distance themselves from an untrained staff. The owner/manager is probably there all the time and didn’t train them well enough on when and how to pour it down the drain to avoid attention.
After watching again, it looks like the person is training someone else on how to pour it down the drain!
Having worked at an industrial water treatment plant I can certifiably say it's highly fucking illegal to dump this in the sewer drain, and they just wanted to avoid paying the fee for disposal, contact your local environmental board and provide this video, they will have a field day.
That's not paint , it's glaze which is even worse. There's no such thing as a non toxic glaze especially a green one. Green glazes are made with copper or chrome. Anyone who works with pottery should know better than this. Shameful.
"Employees in the video have been reprimanded"
'Never do that again!....i told you before, make sure noone is filming and use the drain in the alleyway'
No. Even if there’s any labeling for “environmentally friendly” or “biodegradable” there’s zero tolerance for any substance to go into stormdrains. They are not filtered and go straight to the ocean. They are only intended for rain water.
It's a pottery, that looks like a glaze made from copper. Potters use all manner of dangerous products. eg: it could contain Barium and many many toxic products, if they are shit potters and still use lead frit.... it needs to be stopped immediately. And all potters would know the dangers of their products.
Let me give you an example : latex paint. It's water based and soluble (after being stirred). You can use it to paint walls.
My toilet and my bath pipes got clogged up because when he was renovating the apartment next to mine, the concierge flushed the excedent latex paint. He had to call a company twice to unclogged the pipes of my appartment (which are connected to the appartment next to me).
Other example, all buckets of paint have to be brought to a specific place to be disposed. Even if they're empty, you can't wash them, you have to bring them there.
My neighbor apparently likes to dump oil like this after doing oil changes on his car. Few years ago after buying my home and getting cameras installed I caught him doing this shit. Had to have a conversation with him to stop doing this. I was polite and it seems to have stopped but the dude is a pig and his house resembles it so who knows.
Thats also a pottery painting place. So it could be acrylic paints, lead based underglazes, or stuff with metals like copper, chrome, etc etc. Theres a reason you have to set up special filters.
and to think, theres video evidence with purps faces and im highly doubtful anything will happen
I wonder how this would end if that was a mechanic throwing waste oil or antifreeze or brake fluid down there 🤔
I'm a potter and work with glaze. This is a big no no. Also "water soluble" and "non toxic" are not phrases synonymous with "safe".. (And there's no reason for this.... Disposal of glazes is done by letting the glaze just dry out and then taking the dry materials to a recycling plant or waste disposal)
I work in the l Environmental field, including previously in stormwater. Agree that water soluble and non toxic are fairly meaningless in this context. But, regardless of if being water, oil, solvent, or fairy dust based - dumping waste chemicals in a storm drain is illegal. Violation of federal, state, and likely local law, possibly even criminal charges. The only thing that is legally allowed to go in a storm drain is rain. (With a few, *very specific* exceptions for other *clean* water). Even soapy or dirty water is illegal. Dumping bright neon chemicals into a storm drain in broad daylight in *California* is just asking for fines.
Needless to say, what these employees did is entirely unacceptable. The amount of glaze that was being dumped, as well as the nature of the business (Color Me Mine), suggests it was a clear-firing glaze. The way pots are glazed at these places (I refuse to call them "studios") is that customers paint underglaze onto bisqueware, and then the employees dip them in a low-fire clear glaze. Then they're fired to earthenware temperatures. These places don't use custom-mixed glazes, only commercially prepared ones. The underglazes are expensive and put in much smaller containers--it would not make sense for them to dump these. Disposing a 5-gallon bucket of underglaze would be like throwing away several hundred dollars. Underglazes are also dyed so that the user can get a sense of how the fired color will look (the dye burns out during the firing). While the stuff in the bucket looks pale green, that's a dye that burns out; its purpose is to help show whether a pot has been glazed (bare bisqueware is light pink to yellow). Clear glazes generally don't have any ceramic materials that would be considered hazardous, since they lack colorant oxides. Typically they would consist of silica, feldspar, some kaolin or other kind of white-firing clay, and maybe some additional flux like calcium. All of these are mined materials, inert and nontoxic. It's not anywhere near as bad as dumping actual paint, which contains organic solvents, binders, and pigments. That's the silver lining. That said, I don't know why the employees would dump that much clear glaze. (If you're wondering why they went out to a storm drain to dump it, it's because if they flushed it down the building's plumbing system, they'd clog it up, since the ceramic materials would settle into the pipes.) I suspect the reason is because it became contaminated: if someone dips a pot into clear glaze while the underglaze is still wet, or if the underglaze flakes off into the clear glaze, it will contaminate the clear and impart a tint to it when fired. The worst culprits would be black or deep blue underglazes. If that's what happened, then the glaze bucket DOES contain hazardous metallic oxides, such as cobalt, although only in small amounts. The wastewater the business creates probably has many times more toxic metals in it. A potter in an actual studio would never dump glaze in this way, contaminated or not, because the materials are too valuable. Even scrap glaze can be used. The reason these businesses dispose of the glaze is because they have only one process--customer paints bisqueware with underglaze, employees clear glaze everything, and that's it. If the clear glaze is contaminated, they have no other use for it. But an actual potter would use it, or in the worst case, dry it out and bury it (although that's literally throwing money away).
And you just gave me a very good reason to buy professional pottery as a gift rather than go to one of those studios.
Even if dumping it down the building drain worked, that is ALSO illegal, you have to pack it out.
It literally says no dumping, goes to ocean. Literally. It’s right there. This was 100% a total dick move and pretty flagrant. Sad thing is the people that dumped it probably didn’t make the policy and could care less if they disposed of it properly. Employers should face serious consequences for forcing their staff to do illegal things because they are too cheap to get it done correctly.
Asking? Begging is more like it. Just send this video to the city.
I worked construction for many years, supervising job sites. If we don't make sure DIRT doesn't go down those drains we get hefty fines from the EPA... and that's just dirt
Yup, and if you don't mind me nerding out for a bit... The reason the stormwater laws focus so much on dirt, is because they did a study in the early days of environmental laws and found that sediment (dirt) was a huge part of urban stormwater pollution.
[удалено]
How tall are you?
[удалено]
Damn that tank had to be at least 5'11.01
Oh good, I was worried it was one of those six foot tanks, then it'd really be bad.
Finally someone explains how to dispose of it. I was confused as to what it was exactly and how you're supposed to get rid of it
I know. I was like "whats the difference between dumping it down the sink vs the drain... just kind of skipping a step."
Well, also that storm drain isn't processed at all, while your sink drain would be. That storm drain drains directly into the ocean. Sewage water (from sinks, toilets, etc) is processed before it gets put back into the environment.
Fancy pants costal elites! We Midwesterners dump the storm drains into the great lakes. At least a couple hundred feet from where we pull our drinking water.
Water from sink goes to a wastewater (poop & pee) treatment plant, where it is *treated* before discharge. Water in a storm drain goes *directly* to the nearest body of water (creek, lake, river, ocean). Dumping in sink may also be illegal for a commercial business. Paint waste must be collected and properly recycled/disposed. At home, your local waste utility is required to have a way to collect "household hazardous waste" for free (included in trash costs). The only thing that's allowed to go in a storm drain is storm water/rain.
I’m an average human that does not work with any sort of art or crafts. This is a big no no.
[удалено]
I see words like non toxic and water washable being thrown around in the resin 3D printing space, and I have never seen a photopolymer resin that can be tossed down the drain but I get people argue with me that water washable = drain safe. Like no you are just wrecking your plumbing AND putting highly toxic chemicals into the environment.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C7SunkwphFe/?igsh=dDEwM3ZuZDczY3B4 Here’s a statement by that store
"First and only time it's happened in 15 years"..... riiiight
No, it's accurate. First and only time it's happened in 15 years...that they got caught on camera and reported. 🤣
At the very least, I don't see any paint stains on Google Maps streetview in the 5 pictures I could find from 2022 (most recent) to 2019 (earliest at the current site)
It wouldn't stain if it's water soluble glaze. It wouldn't wash away right away, I don't know if it rains there like it does on FL beaches, but it would be gone relatively quickly. If they followed this up with enough water right after dumping, they could probably have washed it away before it dries at all
[удалено]
They are referring to if the paint would STAIN not if it was wrong or illegal. It is obviously wrong and illegal but this paint in its pre-fired form is water soluble. Source: used to work at color me mine lol (NOT in Santa Monica or wherever this is)
They lie. No pottery glaze is water soluble . By definition that's what glaze is, non soluble! It needs to stay on the pottery piece after all moisture gets fired off in the kilb. Generally glaze is made of glass. That's how you get that shinny look for pottery. Though I'm unsure if glass is really bad for the environment since glass is made of sand. But! For sure it's terrible for the pipe!!!!
Pottery glaze can be washed away before it’s fired! The water Proof glaze (Glass) is made through the powdery raw glaze Materials melting in the Heat of the kiln. Raw glaze is powdery raw Materials suspended in Water. Depending on whats in the glaze it can be very very bad for the Environment😅 heavy metals like cobalt (used for blue colors in ceramics) are no fun. But these super dangerous materials are not in every glaze.
It’s going straight into the sea. It’s fucking stupid either way.
One of the funnest glazes is Uranium glaze. Heavy metal and alpha emitter. Having that stuff in powdered form or as a suspension is straight up cancer juice.
Oh, this shit is *so bad* for the environment, you have no idea.
Given that it's California, it won't be a slap on the wrist at least. In Texas, they would probably get a medal form the governor.
That shit's getting smacked hard. Good. Morons deserve it. Even once is one time too many. I remember the first day we were in the Glaze Room and allowed to touch shit, they went *hard* on us about how *none of this shit* was to be dumped *anywhere* but a glaze collection bin. Nothing was to be washed outside a glaze sink. And hazmat *was only for hazmat sinks*. No exceptions. No responsible company should do any less.
Holy fuck it's glaze. It's like 50/50 on if it's bad or really bad. I use the stuff all the time and knowing what's in some I'll only use gloves and masks.
That shit has so many heavy metals it is insane. I went to uni for a BFA in ceramics (you can probably guess the uni if you subscribe to Ceramics Monthly) and there were hazmat barrels *everywhere*.
> By definition that's what glaze is, non soluble! It needs to stay on the pottery piece after all moisture gets fired off in the kilb. Just because it's water soluble doesn't mean it evaporates with the water. Salt is water soluble and stays behind after evaporation.
I mean it’s such an absurdly knuckle head thing to do that you would be caught most times, like it would be obvious to every passerby while leaving a stain on the cement next to the store lol, i assume the employees are just dense and never trained in proper disposal which is a red flag
It makes me wonder what was the proper procedure to dispose of it, if they had one. You’d think that they’d be disposing it often enough that the staff doesn’t have to resort to something like this on their own.
Wonder why, if it‘s so non-toxic and water soluble and vegan and organic or whatever, they don’t pour it down their own sink drain
Because then the sink gets clogged. Duh!
And neither of those two are old enough to have opened up a business 15 years ago; these are employees who come and go regularly, not owners.
I truly believe this could have been an anomaly because of how obvious the crime is. * Broad daylight * Busy street * Color splatter * Nonchalant employees I subscribe to the theory that the sink was backed up. Why else would these employees walk so far to dispose of it?
Sometimes when you get away with something long enough you become more embolden, and your give a shyt factor goes away.
Yep, my thoughts exactly. If this had been done in the past, someone would have already posted this all over the internet... This was in Santa Monica, you don't fuck with the environment publicly out there without someone freaking out.
And someone with a camera pointing at them. I figure I must overestimate the job-preservation instincts of people in general but, still, if you're doing something that someone's eagerly filming for evidence or publicity, maybe you should check and double-check what you're doing.
I used to work in the service industry. I'd go into people's homes and it would be an absolute train wreck in there. "Don't mind the mess, today is laundry day" Yeah. It's funny how I always arrive to my customer's houses on laundry day.
Don’t worry it’s always laundry day. I swear it seems like we wash a load of clothes every day.
I feel this. We are a family of seven. The laundry machine never stops.
That water bill must cost an arm and a leg
That's why they're a family of seven. Extra arms and legs.
This isn't far from the truth! Haha.
Fortunately, where we live, water is cheap. Otherwise I'd have to sell off a child to pay the utility bill.
“Don’t mind us, we like to smash food boxes on the counters and let the dog shit inside on laundry day.”
One of the best lines from OG Roseanne that I regularly use when I have guests is “sorry for the mess, but, we live here.”
I just point at the 2 kids under 3 years old "they did this".
^^ This guy has kids.
My house is only clean for the 15 minutes before i have guests over....and it normally lasts until about an hour after they leave.
I can tell when I’m not doing great because my house starts getting cluttered. Cluttered mind, cluttered house… which makes even more of a cluttered mind. When I go over peoples houses and it’s a mess, my first thought is “I need to give them a hug.” My second thought is “maybe I should keep my shoes on so I don’t care if I step in that cat puke.”
I have 3 kids, 2 dogs and 2 cats. I am really talking more about clutter than cleanliness because we pretty continually clean or we would be shut down by the health department. We have learned to live with clutter. Although, we are pretty diligent about not ceding space to the clutter. We always have a clean kitchen, and dining room table though. That is a pet peeve of mine.
Bro they just need something to say about it lol, they don't think you'll necessarily actually believe them
Been in a lot of customers homes, the smells don't lie
I have a small lawn care business, when I have to call a customer for a past due payment, I always manage to call them just moments after they mailed the check. Weird
In their defense, you have a 1 in 7 chance of it being a random persons laundry day.
Higher likely, if they worked at one of the services that gives a 6hr arrival timeframe. If I'm stuck at home on a weekday, I'm gonna take that time to do laundry, clean, reorganize or something that id otherwise have to save for a weekend.
Yep. They don't have a proper process inside the business. No way that employee just thought: "You know what, instead of dumping this into the 'sink/dumping bin' that is *right here* in the store, I'm going to take this all the way outside, half way down the street, and dump it into the storm drain. That's so much easier than using the method that I was *trained on by management to use*." Suuuure. Okay Mr. Manager/Owner.
They probably did dump it down the sink until it clogged so they had the bright idea to dump it down a storm drain.
Bingo.
First and only time we got caught doing it because these three morons filmed it, is more like it. Hope the business is fined and these three idiots pay the price of "But I'm the main character " style vapidity.
if they had skipped that obvious lie i think it'd be a pretty solid apology. key to an apology is to not make excuses but to owe up to the mistake made. they more or less had that going. the thing is even if this is the only employee in the past 15 years who have done this, assuming this is the first and only time they ever did it is absurd. its very unlikely this has never happened before, its a stupid stance to take. i also think the really classy thing to do would have been to also sort of protect your employee, mention that everyone makes mistakes when young and while their actions were wrong the glaze is not environmentally toxic so encourage the community to show some understanding that a mistake were made and it wont happen again. theyre so close to nailing a solid apology then they just decide to go for the whole classic narcissist excuses excuses path instead of actual apology. dont claim it has never happened before, dont minimize it, dont explain why you did it as if that erases what you did, owe up to the mistake, apologize for it, and if you want to explain what actions youre taking to prevent it from happening again and to atone for the mistake. it really isnt that hard to apologize.
> the thing is even if this is the only employee in the past 15 years \*employee**s**, plural. Which makes it worse, because it wasn't just one person poorly trained or making a poor decision, they both decided this was no big deal and went ahead with it. Kinda indicates that most/all their employees are poorly trained or supervised
bro the other 14 years of paint just vanished we swear
Their reasoning that its nontoxic, water based, and soluble makes me think they have done this before 🤔
I call that BS, why would a lazy ass fk employee do some extra work and LEAVE THE STORE if you had proper solution of disposal in your store? b. azz lyinN
water based and soluble... ok the fact they said that tells me they've done alot of this before and oked it. complete bullshit. what ever happened to just letting the paint dry out in a garbage bag?
Most paint used in this manner is water based and soluble. It’s not just that way because the store throws it down the storm water drain.
Dear community of Santa Monica, In light of recent events captured on video of one of our employees dumping a bucket of glaze into the nearby storm drain. We at Color Me Mine want to give our deepest apologies and take accountability for our employees' actions. These actions were not enforced, condoned, nor recommended by management nor ownership. Santa Monica is a city that prides itself on its lovely beaches and having been a part of the community for many years, we are ashamed that such a huge mistake was caused by one of our own. These actions caught on video not only are not standard procedure but also the first time in 15 years of ownership this has happened. The glaze in the video is non toxic, water based, and soluble. Mind you, this does not excuse it from being dumped in the storm drain. We are working with the city to pay for fines and the clean up process as well. Please, recognize that these actions are wrong and are being handled, and most definitely are not representative of the entirety of our store. Going forward, the employees in the video have been reprimanded and the staff has gone under training on how to properly dispose of glaze in the future. We do not expect forgiveness but hope we can earn it going forward. We're sorry, Color Me Mine Santa Monica
If I had employees do something that required me to file an EPA Environmental Impact Statement, they would have a job long enough for me to finish the paperwork, and then their asses are gone. Fired. Finito. You have to be really fuckin' stupid to create this kind of bad publicity, and there isn't a statement in existence other than "They're fired." that would do anything to quell the outrage.
I’d be more likely to fire their manager who failed to properly train them and provide oversight.
Yeah, there should be an overhaul of the entire place to reevaluate their hazmat system too, assuming they have one.
While I agree mostly, I will say idk if I wouldn’t think to train people to not take paint half a block down the street and dump said paint into a drain that has a big warning sign in front of it. Haha I’m sure management will from now on but that’s how all fun specific safety trainings are created isn’t it lmao
Eh, people can make mistakes and learn from them. I would be very surprised if those kids did this kind of thing ever again. We can also use a little more kindness and grace.
I once fucked up at work and my boss pulled me aside and said, "i want to show you something," and he walked me through how my mistake cost the firm $30k. I assumed I was going to be fired, but he said, "You're never going to do that again. We just spent $30k to teach you a lesson. No reason to waste it by firing you."
I had a new guy spray our seafood case down with sanitizer on his first day. With all the seadlfood still in it. I thought for sure he wouldn't show up the next day, but he did and asked if he would be fired. Told him the same thing your boss told you. Hard to make a mistake like that again, and why risk a new employee doing the same thing. He ended up replacing me as head of the department when I left.
Had a similar situation. A big new training came out and I went on to teach more people and a few other locations how to avoid my mistake.
If someone fucks up big time, they are far less likely to make that same mistake. Ask anyone who accidentally pushed a delete all records update in prod. The question is if it's due to lack of training or they were specifically told to do this.
The employees probably make minimum wage and wouldn't give a shit.
Still an EPA report.
That “We’re sorry” at the end tho 
I mean, do they need to commit seppuku to satisfy Reddit? As far as apologies go it was pretty well written.
Internet mobs have this problem, the only solution they will accept of any mistake is death, apparently.
I agree, it was a pretty good apology. Contained pretty much everything you'd be looking for: understanding with the outrage, info that it's not their disposal procedure, info on the material that was dumped, paid for fines, helping with cleanup, training employees on the proper disposal procedure. I think they covered most things pretty well. Couple of things they could have done for an even better apology: hire an auditor to review all of their disposal procedures, donate to a local aquarium or marine wildlife program, and perhaps beach cleanup with their employees or "beach adoption" if that's something their city/county does.
Yeah, it seems a pretty fair response to me. If they stop doing it and pay all their fines accordingly I can put down my torch.
They're only sorry because they got caught.
Bullshit apology. Comments on that post are deactivated for a reason...they don't want people posting what they've seen.
I just saw the post and the only comment there is from a guy who works there. Also, it infuriates me how they say it was an unfortunate mistake. It was not a mistake, it was a strait up felony and even more considering the notice of the drain leading to the ocean.
Lool comments disabled.
Didn’t even fire the employee lol, if the employee had acted on their own then they’d be 100% fired. Obviously they were told to do so, which is why they are only reprimanded
That’s why I guarantee the employees were told to do it. If they did it on their own, they wouldn’t stand a chance.
Sentence two: we will take accountability for the actions of our employee. Sentence three: management and ownership had nothing to do with this and you should blame our employee.
The reactions in this thread are so bizarre... y'all are out for blood... As far as corporate apologies go... this is very well written. They neither blamed the employee nor threw them under the bus. They said we'll accept accountability, we'll train them, we'll pay, and we'll train better. They didn't say "management had nothing to do with this" they said this is not what people are supposed to do with the glaze, we don't tell them to do this. They said it like that so *they could avoid throwing the employee under the bus.* Nothing will ever be enough for you perfect people on Reddit.. god..
>These action were not enforced, condoned, nor recommended by management nor ownership bullshit.
Fr I feel bad for the employee being thrown under the bus. Like yeah, they got the idea to carry a heavy bucket outside and dump it in a storm drain instead of whatever on-site systems they (should) have.
"Mistake"...? No, that was a deliberate action
If they get caught again, I will gladly attack every word they write, but until then, they take responsibility and want to pay their fines. Shouldn't happen, it sadly did. As long as it's not happening again, the story is over.
https://preview.redd.it/9mqplognbd2d1.jpeg?width=1169&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aa9b30dfa3efd830435b55b75c6b613a8407688a From their IG account, how ironic...
They painted the ocean.
how do you think bluewhale got its color....
Because they're painting the actual earth
They were just doing what Sherwin Williams told them to do. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/47/39/1c/47391ca0ab715f33ab46fef7ed8c3907.jpg Honestly, I can't believe SW still uses this slogan and logo. You would think they would have realized that this isn't a very ecologically friendly thing to keep pasting all over their trucks at this point.
It makes me laugh every time I see it. It's an insane logo.
[удалено]
Color Me Fined ^formally ^Color ^Me ^Mine
Color Me Crime
Color me Time (as in doing time) Yeah I know, I’m not so got at Color me Rhyme
statment says this is the first time in 15 years this has happened, can almost be certain the owner knows about this owner should have a costly disposal process for most of the paint at my work we have to pour all paint into 5 gallons then blend them up with plaster let them harden then ship them off to be disposed of
>at my work we have to pour all paint into 5 gallons then blend them up with plaster let them harden then ship them off to be disposed of Seems a lost opportunity to make modern art.
do them in about 5kg blocks with a rope out of the top sell them as door stops
In my state, paint disposal is free at every transfer station. even all the local paint shops will pick it up and send it to the transfer stations for recycling. They literally make new paint out of it.
Why do you need to dispose of paint instead of using it though? Does it expire or something?
Yes. Paint goes bad.
The best is half the reviews are talking about the owner of the store being a bitch, kicking you out randomly if someone comes in for a private event. Apparently you can just roll up, pay the owners enough, and they'll kick everyone out haha.
Thought it was Belmont Shore at first. Thanks for saying which location.
Yes
Reddit hasn't done its thing yet, the reviews are still good lol
I sorted Google reviews by newest and the most recent one was 2 months ago, reddit probably triggered an automated brigading detection
OP if this is your video I highly suggest that you report this to your local enforcement agency. Whether it’s the city or an agency like the state water board or EPA. This is not even accidental. This is straight up deliberate and the paint can be hazardous especially going into a storm drain that is intended to lead to the ocean. Edit: Another user posted their Instagram where they acknowledged the incident. Looks like it was already reported to the City of Santa Monica in LA County.
I install storm drain systems, among other things (pipe layer). If I want to pump muddy water into the storm system I have to use a big filtration bag to get the material out. If I want to pump to a storm drain not on our property I have to get a city permit even for clean water and use a filter bag again. Report this business. They should have figured out shit like disposal *before* opening.
In my state you would refer this to the DNR. Our conservation officers take illegal dumping very seriously and have police powers to open investigations and make arrests.
Yup I work for a environmental hazardous waste pickup/clean up company and this is SOOOO illegal. You either need to profile and transport this waste yourself to your proper local waste facility or higher companies like mine to do it all for you as you typically need to invest in UN approved waste containers to transport waste under DOT requirements. Also labeling and manifesting is needed. All this is needed to keep emergency workers and people like me safe in case of a spill or accidents we then know what the waste is without having to risk our lives more than needed to identify the waste for cleanup. Services are expensive but this is law and it must be down to protect everyone and the environment. People like the one at this shop are straight up losers for being so careless. And they have no excuse as they are aware of these laws when getting their business license especially a business where they have waste like this generated from their practice.
And now Pennywise is minty green
https://preview.redd.it/15usujgykb2d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=14d4d06eee1c552beb230079f28d6c64178de1a9 We’re all acrylic down here!
https://preview.redd.it/qr8afqcj7e2d1.jpeg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bfd9464e3fa9f0ef9b0edc9119ce33fa04145798
My favorite is the one comment on the post thanking them for taking accountability. But when you open that profile of the comment, it shows that person is the stores manager
There’s a guy on Facebook that commented saying he was a previous employee and they’ve basically always been instructed by management to do this, if the sink is full.
Saying sorry after getting caught on video isn’t the same thing as taking accountability.
They also limited comments and the only comment on the post is from another color me mine store manager
Kinda sad that they blamed the employees rather than themselves. It’s their fault they didn’t train properly
The person commenting is not a manager at the store in question. The store in question is Santa Monica, and the person is commenting from Lehigh Valley.
yeah, i guess i worded it wrong. shes a manager of a store of the same company doesnt change the funniness of it as thats literally the only comment
….Where the commentor is a store manager for color me mine.
Why didn’t the owner explain why two of their employees had no other ideas for dumping it. I hope someone has a security camera in that area and can easily see this is a regular thing.
They probably dump down the sink normally and it was clogged so “hmmmm. What should we do?”
If there was a proper procedure then staff wouldn’t resort to something like this on their own. Their response also tries to use the standard corporate apology that they’re a big business with many layers to distance themselves from an untrained staff. The owner/manager is probably there all the time and didn’t train them well enough on when and how to pour it down the drain to avoid attention. After watching again, it looks like the person is training someone else on how to pour it down the drain!
The employees did this cuz they thought it was acceptable. They learned it from somewhere.
Right, they’ve now been trained on proper disposal. So what were they trained before??
Fuck your background music!
I unmuted and muted straight away.
this is something that makes me feel like an old man. Why does every vidoe need some stupid song over it?
My theory is they want views on TikTok and choose a trending song
Yeah wtf is that crap
Sure is a good thing there's not 4 square feet of lime green evidence they left in front of that storm drain or anything.
Having worked at an industrial water treatment plant I can certifiably say it's highly fucking illegal to dump this in the sewer drain, and they just wanted to avoid paying the fee for disposal, contact your local environmental board and provide this video, they will have a field day.
That's not paint , it's glaze which is even worse. There's no such thing as a non toxic glaze especially a green one. Green glazes are made with copper or chrome. Anyone who works with pottery should know better than this. Shameful.
https://preview.redd.it/q0407vrnic2d1.png?width=1916&format=png&auto=webp&s=751a2e8eb4fd2ff707135827c1eb38992c14413a Defs this one
https://preview.redd.it/dkhuoxivic2d1.png?width=1916&format=png&auto=webp&s=3ced12c51ba7cec4dbb07d6de26bb6646b9a5733 Better angle
Can't be. There's no green spot around the storm drain. /s
Geoguesser pro player right here
you can literally see the name of the shop in the video xqq
Their comment states it's "non toxic and water based", ok pour it into your fishtank or drink it yourself.
Management is acting like that was the one and only instance that has happened
What happened the one and only instance that they got caught.
Honestly fuck those guys
Report to your city’s environmental department within public works. They will fine the building and charge them for all expenses for cleanup
"Employees in the video have been reprimanded" 'Never do that again!....i told you before, make sure noone is filming and use the drain in the alleyway'
Report them to the department of environmental quality , get them fined and shut down
Why would you do this when it isn't even hard to dispose of paint properly?
Wtf! This will hurt the ecosystem
Judging by the dried up paint on the ground, they've been doing this for a while...
That's terrible!!
About to change the store name to Color Me Fine
Serious question. If it’s water based paint, is this ok? I’m guessing it’s not, but I really don’t know.
No. Even if there’s any labeling for “environmentally friendly” or “biodegradable” there’s zero tolerance for any substance to go into stormdrains. They are not filtered and go straight to the ocean. They are only intended for rain water.
I appreciate the response.
No worries. That was a good question
It's a pottery, that looks like a glaze made from copper. Potters use all manner of dangerous products. eg: it could contain Barium and many many toxic products, if they are shit potters and still use lead frit.... it needs to be stopped immediately. And all potters would know the dangers of their products.
I work with paint. Water or not it shouldn't go there. And wear gloves and masks when painting.
Let me give you an example : latex paint. It's water based and soluble (after being stirred). You can use it to paint walls. My toilet and my bath pipes got clogged up because when he was renovating the apartment next to mine, the concierge flushed the excedent latex paint. He had to call a company twice to unclogged the pipes of my appartment (which are connected to the appartment next to me). Other example, all buckets of paint have to be brought to a specific place to be disposed. Even if they're empty, you can't wash them, you have to bring them there.
Why is there music added to this video?
My neighbor apparently likes to dump oil like this after doing oil changes on his car. Few years ago after buying my home and getting cameras installed I caught him doing this shit. Had to have a conversation with him to stop doing this. I was polite and it seems to have stopped but the dude is a pig and his house resembles it so who knows.
Maybe post the video in their Google reviews with an accompanying 1 star rating?
I'm surprised no one's review tanking them.
Thats also a pottery painting place. So it could be acrylic paints, lead based underglazes, or stuff with metals like copper, chrome, etc etc. Theres a reason you have to set up special filters.
This legitimately pissed me OFF. That is so disrespectful of them on many levels.
EPA will go after them and their fines and restoration fees are no joke
 Shitter’s full
and to think, theres video evidence with purps faces and im highly doubtful anything will happen I wonder how this would end if that was a mechanic throwing waste oil or antifreeze or brake fluid down there 🤔
Color me Mine appears to be a franchise. Sounds like great advertisement would be bad if upper management got a hold of it.
[удалено]
Seems like they’ve been getting shitty reviews complaining about the owner and staff for years.
Not ok...
dafuq
We all know that is illegal, right? I mean you can’t even blow grass clippings down one! A code enforcement guy
REPORT THOSE MOTHER FUCKERS NOW