Sustainable Materials To Use on Home Craft Projects

Often, people look at craft projects as nothing more than a way to pass the time on a chilly day, but crafts aren’t just time killers. They help make our world a little more beautiful, whether you’re making a lawn statue for your garden or a wall hanging for your foyer.

And since we’re focusing on making our own little corners of the world more beautiful, why shouldn’t our projects make the rest of the world lovelier, too? How do we do that? One word: sustainability. Here are a few sustainable materials to use on your next craft project.

Plant Matter

If you’ve ever read the Little House books by Laura Ingles Wilder, you know that back in the frontier days, people used the materials in the world around them to survive. And they used every single bit of those materials, whether it was animal meat for food or animal hair for brushes.

The same is true of plants. Sure, we can eat the fruit and rest under the branches, but the rest of the plant is perfect for crafting. A few plant-based materials you can use include:

• Pinecones
• Dried leaves and flowers
• Twigs and sticks
• Tall grass and hay
• Evergreen trimmings

And don’t forget that wood counts as plant matter, too. But if you want to be truly sustainable, opt for a craft project using reclaimed wood instead of store-bought plywood.

Clothes

When we think of industries that damage the environment, we tend to think of things like automotive or energy. But the textile industry has a huge environmental impact, between the environmentally unfriendly practices of fast fashion and all the clothes that end up in landfills.

So instead of pitching those old t-shirts or bedsheets, consider using them as sustainable materials to use on home craft projects, like:

• A patchwork quilt
• A reading-nook tent
• A homemade tote bag
• A new apron
• A face mask
• A stuffed animal

Pro-Tip

Just because someone has outgrown an article of clothing doesn’t mean no one can wear it anymore. With a little creative sewing work, you can turn a man’s shirt into a peasant top, an old blouse into a toddler’s sack dress, or an old dress into a scarf.

Old Containers

Many people usually consider plastic one of the most unsustainable materials you can use. However, when you avoid sending your old Tupperware and other plastic containers to the landfill by reusing them for art, you can still put a smile on Mother Nature’s face.

There are dozens of ways to breathe new life into old containers. For example, an old bin can become a charming planter, bottles can become vases, and smaller containers can become the rooftops of tiny cottages for a fairy garden.

Craft projects help put a little more beauty in the world. But when you choose sustainable materials to make your craft vision a reality, you can do so without taking any beauty from the world.