Dear crafters, today's installment of Earth Tones highlights the positive aspects of crafting green with brandywinedesign. She and the Trashion and EcoEtsy Teams have come together to highlight the many possibilities for recycling and upcycling in your craft. 

Whether you plant a tree, pick up litter, or simply take a stroll outside, these are but a few of the fabulous ways to celebrate Earth Day. Chances are you’ve already done some of these things in years past and now you are like me, completely addicted to Etsy and all the handmade goodness it offers. This year, in a collaborative effort of the Trashion and EcoEtsy Teams, we’re combining making things and being earth conscious: crafting green!

Handcrafting something is a rewarding feeling, but crafting green reaps an even greater sensation. (And it’s easier to do than you might think.) Reusing found objects in your craft diverts them from ending up in a landfill. Using natural or sustainable materials supports smart environmental stewardship. Selecting materials that can be reused again and again after serving their purpose in your craft is another simple way to be environmentally responsible when crafting.

You can start with the smallest thing: even those count big! As Morgen of kootsac and inkyspider points out, making the switch to crafting green can be gradual. She would suggest making a list of all the areas where you can make your craft more eco-friendly and then gradually introduce those sustainable improvements. She says, “When considering your supplies, try introducing organic, natural, or fair trade materials. Try to keep yourself informed about new innovations in your craft that may be friendlier to the environment.”

Your craft doesn’t have to be 100% natural or recycled in order to be green. Shawna of shandke finds that it is “sometimes difficult for an artist to use 100% recycled materials, because our culture makes us believe we must maintain an archival quality with our work. Art school especially influences this concept.” So she now tries to combine found materials with this desire to make things that last. Some of these materials include cardboard, paper, fabric and wood. She’s even going to try her hand at making her own walnut ink!

Using what you already have at hand as materials in your craft is an excellent idea. juani1 of La Bolsa Chica makes items by crocheting plastic bags. “When visiting family in Peru, I saw a woman crocheting a water bottle holder out of plastic bags and thought what a great idea this was. I also started thinking of all the things I could make with plastic and how much plastic could be reused by doing this. I started reading more about how plastic is impacting our environment and this just fueled my passion for recycling even more.”

For Jane of LostAndFoundObjects2, working from what is at hand makes the challenge more fun. She’s always looking for things to re-appropriate in her work, like recycled fabrics, soda pop cans, small toys, seashells, old keys and anything shiny found in the street. At her workplace, Patchwork Central, they offer an arts program for children and adults with an emphasis on recycling. The group keeps a garden as well, where they practice organic and sustainable techniques. It was there that she had this experience: “When a young, special needs girl from our inner-city neighborhood asked me why we compost our apple cores instead of throwing them away, I told her we needed to be good stewards and take care of the land. I wondered about using the word steward with her, but she seemed to take it in. After a moment, her face lit up and she said, 'Oh! I see, Martha Stewart would want us to compost.'" Jane thought this was pretty funny, as she believes the kids learn more from what we do than what we say.

Try your hand at crafting green with a handmade funky fruit stand! Tiffany of RePlayGround has come up with this neat idea by recycling empty paper tubes. “You'll be on a recycling roll when you attack this project!” Everything you need to know about how to do-it-yourself, plus a whole lot of other earth-friendly projects can be found in the DIY section of her website.

There are endless ways to incorporate earth-friendly materials into your crafting. When sewing, Kristine of limabeanhome chooses reclaimed fabric over new. She says, “When you choose to use reclaimed fabric, you’re reducing and reusing, and your sewing projects become eco-friendly and very unique.”

Here are some more examples of sellers getting innovative with their crafting:

— Moonbeads saves the lids from detergent bottles for her friend, who uses them for mixing paint in lieu of buying new, disposable paper or plastic cups.

— ASecondChance creates hand knitted goods from unraveled forgotten sweaters.

— bottledupdesigns makes one of a kind jewelry from reclaimed antique glass gathered from local glass dumps and forests.

— DebbyAremDesigns uses recycled circuit boards to make totally unique products.

—  blondechicken is one of many sellers on Etsy who provides responsible supplies, ready for use in your next green project!

Wayne Dyer said, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” Get innovative and change the way you look at crafting!

Further Resources
CraftingaGreenWorld.com
Acminet.org
Freecycle.org
Make-stuff.com
TheSwitchboards.com
HappyHippie.com

Brandy of brandywinedesign lives in North Carolina, where she works part-time as a barista in a local coffee shop. When she’s not serving up fair-trade, organic coffee, she can be found creating candles using all natural wax in her countryside studio.  In her spare time, Brandy enjoys hanging with her friends, watching live music, spending time outdoors and gardening.  With an AAS in Landscape Architecture, Brandy has a background in environmentally conscious design and this heavily influences all of her creations. Find out more by visiting her website: Brandywinedesign.net.