Team Tips are a weekly series of tips and ideas from the Etsy Teams, groups of Etsy sellers who get together to promote their crafts and art forms. You can find more Teams Guides and Resources at team.etsy.com.

With Earth Day just around the corner, there's lots of buzz about eco-friendly ideas and items.  There are several Etsy Teams based on eco-friendly principles, but every Etsy Team should consider how to do its part in making less of an impact on the planet.

For location-based Etsy Teams, encouraging your community to shop local reduces some of the embodied energy in your handmade wares by reducing the distance products are shipped.  Letting neighbors in your town or city know about the existence of artists and makers in the area gives them an alternative to shopping at big box stores, which have pretty nasty environmental footprints, and a chance to support the local economy.

Global Teams are likely doing a great job communicating and marketing themselves in a paper-free way: by connecting with other Team members and buyers virtually, your Team isn't creating more waste for landfills.  How else can your Global Team step up its greenness a notch?  Perhaps deciding as a Team to use as many recycled shipping items as possible (like the Eco-EtsyTeam encourages) or featuring sellers on your Team with creative approaches to recycling and upcycling in their shops.

Some Earth-friendly Etsy Teams you should check out include:

• Eco-Etsy
• Etsy Green and Clean Guild
• Etsy Trashion Team
• Vegan Etsy
• Natural Kids Team
• Etsy Recyclers

Being environmentally conscious isn't just a fad — it's an important thing for everyone to consider all year long.  Etsy Teams are such a powerful force of creative people, and we're sure there are infinite ways that Teams can set a positive example for all handmakers.

Is your Team acting in an environmentally responsible way? Let us know in a comment! 

For more Team Tips, please check back each week! We'll be posting tips here in the Storque, as well as on the Teams Resource page.  You can also keep up with Team Tips, news and ideas by signing up for the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!