diff --git a/samples/pong/src/main.c b/samples/pong/src/main.c
index c734807..98af1e5 100644
--- a/samples/pong/src/main.c
+++ b/samples/pong/src/main.c
@@ -56,7 +56,9 @@ oc_str8 loadFile(oc_arena* arena, oc_str8 filename)
     oc_file file = oc_file_open(filename, OC_FILE_ACCESS_READ, 0);
     if(oc_file_last_error(file) != OC_IO_OK)
     {
-        oc_log_error("Couldn't open file %s\n", oc_str8_to_cstring(oc_scratch(), filename));
+        oc_arena_scope scope = oc_arena_scope_begin(arena);
+        oc_log_error("Couldn't open file %s\n", oc_str8_to_cstring(arena, filename));
+        oc_arena_scope_end(scope);
     }
     u64 size = oc_file_size(file);
     char* buffer = oc_arena_push(arena, size);
@@ -347,6 +349,8 @@ ORCA_EXPORT void oc_on_frame_refresh(void)
     oc_surface_select(surface);
     oc_render(surface, canvas);
     oc_surface_present(surface);
+
+    oc_arena_clear(oc_scratch());
 }
 
 oc_rect blockRect(int i)
diff --git a/samples/ui/src/main.c b/samples/ui/src/main.c
index bf342e3..7da4677 100644
--- a/samples/ui/src/main.c
+++ b/samples/ui/src/main.c
@@ -393,4 +393,6 @@ ORCA_EXPORT void oc_on_frame_refresh(void)
     oc_ui_draw();
     oc_render(surface, canvas);
     oc_surface_present(surface);
+
+    oc_arena_clear(oc_scratch());
 }
diff --git a/src/app/osx_app.m b/src/app/osx_app.m
index 331788d..bf01d83 100644
--- a/src/app/osx_app.m
+++ b/src/app/osx_app.m
@@ -451,15 +451,15 @@ void oc_install_keyboard_layout_listener()
     event.window = (oc_window){ 0 };
     event.type = OC_EVENT_PATHDROP;
 
-    oc_arena* scratch = oc_scratch();
-    oc_arena_scope scope = oc_arena_scope_begin(scratch);
+    oc_arena_scope scratch = oc_scratch_begin();
 
-    oc_str8 path = oc_str8_push_cstring(scratch, [filename UTF8String]);
-    oc_str8_list_push(scratch, &event.paths, path);
+    oc_str8 path = oc_str8_push_cstring(scratch.arena, [filename UTF8String]);
+    oc_str8_list_push(scratch.arena, &event.paths, path);
 
     oc_queue_event(&event);
 
-    oc_arena_scope_end(scope);
+    //NOTE: oc_queue_event copies paths to the event queue, so we can clear the arena scope here
+    oc_scratch_end(scratch);
 
     return (YES);
 }
@@ -472,15 +472,15 @@ void oc_install_keyboard_layout_listener()
     event.window = (oc_window){ 0 };
     event.type = OC_EVENT_PATHDROP;
 
-    oc_arena* scratch = oc_scratch();
-    oc_arena_scope scope = oc_arena_scope_begin(scratch);
+    oc_arena_scope scratch = oc_scratch_begin();
 
-    oc_str8 path = oc_str8_push_cstring(scratch, [nsPath UTF8String]);
-    oc_str8_list_push(scratch, &event.paths, path);
+    oc_str8 path = oc_str8_push_cstring(scratch.arena, [nsPath UTF8String]);
+    oc_str8_list_push(scratch.arena, &event.paths, path);
 
     oc_queue_event(&event);
 
-    oc_arena_scope_end(scope);
+    //NOTE: oc_queue_event copies paths to the event queue, so we can clear the arena scope here
+    oc_scratch_end(scratch);
 }
 
 //TODO: drag and drop paths
@@ -1536,7 +1536,6 @@ void oc_window_restore(oc_window window)
     }
 }
 
-
 void oc_window_send_to_back(oc_window window)
 {
     @autoreleasepool
diff --git a/src/graphics/graphics_common.c b/src/graphics/graphics_common.c
index c963627..d050df9 100644
--- a/src/graphics/graphics_common.c
+++ b/src/graphics/graphics_common.c
@@ -719,8 +719,8 @@ oc_rect oc_text_bounding_box_utf32(oc_font font, f32 fontSize, oc_str32 codePoin
         return ((oc_rect){ 0 });
     }
 
-    oc_arena* scratch = oc_scratch();
-    oc_str32 glyphIndices = oc_font_push_glyph_indices(font, scratch, codePoints);
+    oc_arena_scope scratch = oc_scratch_begin();
+    oc_str32 glyphIndices = oc_font_push_glyph_indices(font, scratch.arena, codePoints);
 
     //NOTE(martin): find width of missing character
     //TODO(martin): should cache that at font creation...
@@ -789,6 +789,8 @@ oc_rect oc_text_bounding_box_utf32(oc_font font, f32 fontSize, oc_str32 codePoin
 
     f32 fontScale = oc_font_get_scale_for_em_pixels(font, fontSize);
     oc_rect rect = { 0, -fontData->extents.ascent * fontScale, width * fontScale, (y + lineHeight) * fontScale };
+
+    oc_scratch_end(scratch);
     return (rect);
 }
 
@@ -799,9 +801,11 @@ oc_rect oc_text_bounding_box(oc_font font, f32 fontSize, oc_str8 text)
         return ((oc_rect){ 0 });
     }
 
-    oc_arena* scratch = oc_scratch();
-    oc_str32 codePoints = oc_utf8_push_to_codepoints(scratch, text);
-    return (oc_text_bounding_box_utf32(font, fontSize, codePoints));
+    oc_arena_scope scratch = oc_scratch_begin();
+    oc_str32 codePoints = oc_utf8_push_to_codepoints(scratch.arena, text);
+    oc_rect result = oc_text_bounding_box_utf32(font, fontSize, codePoints);
+    oc_scratch_end(scratch);
+    return (result);
 }
 
 //------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -1353,8 +1357,12 @@ void oc_codepoints_outlines(oc_str32 codePoints)
         return;
     }
 
-    oc_str32 glyphIndices = oc_font_push_glyph_indices(canvas->attributes.font, oc_scratch(), codePoints);
+    oc_arena_scope scratch = oc_scratch_begin();
+
+    oc_str32 glyphIndices = oc_font_push_glyph_indices(canvas->attributes.font, scratch.arena, codePoints);
     oc_glyph_outlines_from_font_data(fontData, glyphIndices);
+
+    oc_scratch_end(scratch);
 }
 
 void oc_text_outlines(oc_str8 text)
@@ -1370,11 +1378,13 @@ void oc_text_outlines(oc_str8 text)
         return;
     }
 
-    oc_arena* scratch = oc_scratch();
-    oc_str32 codePoints = oc_utf8_push_to_codepoints(scratch, text);
-    oc_str32 glyphIndices = oc_font_push_glyph_indices(canvas->attributes.font, scratch, codePoints);
+    oc_arena_scope scratch = oc_scratch_begin();
+    oc_str32 codePoints = oc_utf8_push_to_codepoints(scratch.arena, text);
+    oc_str32 glyphIndices = oc_font_push_glyph_indices(canvas->attributes.font, scratch.arena, codePoints);
 
     oc_glyph_outlines_from_font_data(fontData, glyphIndices);
+
+    oc_scratch_end(scratch);
 }
 
 //------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -1579,7 +1589,9 @@ oc_image oc_image_create_from_file(oc_surface surface, oc_str8 path, bool flip)
     oc_image image = oc_image_nil();
     int width, height, channels;
 
-    const char* cpath = oc_str8_to_cstring(oc_scratch(), path);
+    oc_arena_scope scratch = oc_scratch_begin();
+
+    const char* cpath = oc_str8_to_cstring(scratch.arena, path);
 
     stbi_set_flip_vertically_on_load(flip ? 1 : 0);
     u8* pixels = stbi_load(cpath, &width, &height, &channels, 4);
@@ -1592,6 +1604,8 @@ oc_image oc_image_create_from_file(oc_surface surface, oc_str8 path, bool flip)
     {
         oc_log_error("stbi_load() failed: %s\n", stbi_failure_reason());
     }
+    oc_scratch_end(scratch);
+
     return (image);
 }
 
@@ -1719,9 +1733,13 @@ oc_image_region oc_image_atlas_alloc_from_file(oc_rect_atlas* atlas, oc_image ba
 
     stbi_set_flip_vertically_on_load(flip ? 1 : 0);
 
-    const char* cpath = oc_str8_to_cstring(oc_scratch(), path);
+    oc_arena_scope scratch = oc_scratch_begin();
+
+    const char* cpath = oc_str8_to_cstring(scratch.arena, path);
     int width, height, channels;
     u8* pixels = stbi_load(cpath, &width, &height, &channels, 4);
+    oc_scratch_end(scratch);
+
     if(pixels)
     {
         imageRgn = oc_image_atlas_alloc_from_rgba8(atlas, backingImage, width, height, pixels);
diff --git a/src/runtime_io.c b/src/runtime_io.c
index cfdcd90..0aad530 100644
--- a/src/runtime_io.c
+++ b/src/runtime_io.c
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
 oc_io_cmp oc_runtime_io_wait_single_req(oc_io_req* wasmReq)
 {
     oc_runtime* orca = oc_runtime_get();
-    oc_arena* scratch = oc_scratch();
 
     oc_io_cmp cmp = { 0 };
     oc_io_req req = *wasmReq;
diff --git a/src/wasmbind/gles_api_bind_manual.c b/src/wasmbind/gles_api_bind_manual.c
index 2edafd6..90de2c4 100644
--- a/src/wasmbind/gles_api_bind_manual.c
+++ b/src/wasmbind/gles_api_bind_manual.c
@@ -848,7 +848,9 @@ const void* glShaderSource_stub(IM3Runtime runtime, IM3ImportContext _ctx, uint6
     i32 lengthArrayOffset = *(i32*)&_sp[3];
 
     int* stringOffsetArray = (int*)((char*)_mem + stringArrayOffset);
-    const char** stringArray = (const char**)oc_arena_push_array(oc_scratch(), char*, count);
+
+    oc_arena_scope scratch = oc_scratch_begin();
+    const char** stringArray = (const char**)oc_arena_push_array(scratch.arena, char*, count);
     for(int i = 0; i < count; i++)
     {
         stringArray[i] = (char*)_mem + stringOffsetArray[i];
@@ -857,6 +859,8 @@ const void* glShaderSource_stub(IM3Runtime runtime, IM3ImportContext _ctx, uint6
     int* lengthArray = lengthArrayOffset ? (int*)((char*)_mem + lengthArrayOffset) : 0;
 
     glShaderSource(shader, count, stringArray, lengthArray);
+
+    oc_scratch_end(scratch);
     return (0);
 }