Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Earth Friendly crafting ideas

I'm not a totally green, earth friendly, all organic eating, cloth diapering mama. I highlight my hair although I actually go to a salon that uses all organic products, (but really, that was a total coincidence), I used disposable diapers (although I am seriously considering doing cloth diapers for our next baby - easier on the earth and easier on the pocket book). But, I am earth conscious. I'm a nature lover who appreciates hiking and exploring the beautiful world around us. I want nature to be part of my daughter's life and I want to do my part to keep preserve the earth for future generations. But, I'm a crafter. I realize I purchase paper and other products that have been made specifically for crafting and I realize that impacts the environment. So, here a few things I do to keep my crafting green and minimize the negative impact on the environment:

1) Recycle - I recycle everything that is recyclable. Our recycling bin gets full faster than our trash can. That's a good thing.
2) Reuse- I use the following things for spare containers to hold paint, glue or water when I'm working on a project: jars, cans, plastic containers (yogurt, fruit cups, pudding cups, sour cream or margarine containers, etc).
-Cereal boxes - I've started covering these with paper and using them as holders for books/magazines, etc.
3) I have a box in my craft room that I call my "trash to treasure box". Before I throw something in the trash/recycling, I think "What can I make with this? How can I re-use this?" If I come up with an idea, the item goes in my trash to treasure box instead of the trash. I have a box of jars/bottles in the garage that I reuse for storage.
4) I either file my paper scraps away (still working on an organization system for that) or I put them in Taylor's scrap box and let her use them in collages or other art projects.
5) I shop at thrift stores. I have a whole post that I'm working on about thrift stores. I buy gently used linens that I can use the fabric for sewing projects, I've bought bags of yarn, buttons, baskets, picture frames, books - you can make scrapbooks out of board books, I bought a dictionary because I love the look of dictionary text on scrapbook pages and other art projects, I bought a beautiful book of poetry with watercolor pictures to use to make cards...the sky is the limit!

So these are just a few ideas I wanted to share about earth friendly crafting. Do you have any earth friendly ideas to share?

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