Waste Minimization Ideas For Crafters
Posted on: 20 April 2015
Crafters use many items and often make a mess. You end up with a beautiful piece of art that you made yourself, but then you also end up with lots of garbage and waste. You love to make things, but how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum so that you don't fill up those garbage bags for trash removal and add to the landfills?
Follow these waste minimization steps with every craft you make:
Measure Twice, Cut Once
Have you heard this common saying? It is often used by carpenters when cutting wood or other materials. It works for crafters, too. When you need to cut something to size, whether is material, paper, or glass, make sure to measure twice before cutting. This way, there is less chance that you will measure wrong and make a mistake. You won't have to cut new material and toss away the bits you messed up on.
Use As Little Material As Possible
Let's say you want to make a skirt from pretty material. You make a pattern, and you need to cut that pattern out of the material. In order to use as little material as possible, you would place the pattern on the material so that the pieces fit as close together as possible. You end up with only tiny pieces of waste instead of large pieces of material you won't use. This works with many types of crafts. With paper crafting, use as little paper as possible. Don't buy large amounts of paint unless you intend to use it all for the project.
Reuse Scrap
Even if you use the smallest amount of a material as possible, you are still bound to have some waste left over. Don't throw the waste in the garbage. Instead, use it for another craft. Use your imagination to turn even the smallest pieces of waste into something beautiful. Some examples include turning pieces of paper into sheets of paper, sewing random pieces of leftover material into a quilt, glue broken glass pieces into a mosaic, or using leftover paint to make wall mural.
Shop in Store
If you have a craft store nearby, then try to do all your shopping there instead of buying your supplies online. Take a reusable fabric bag with you and shop until you drop. Shopping in store with a fabric bag eliminates packaging waste. Shopping online means you end up with boxes and shipping material that you will need to throw away.
Of course, if you have to buy online, you can always reuse the boxes and shipping material to make some really cool crafts.
These waste minimization tips will help messy crafters reduce waste. You won't have as much junk for trash removers to haul off to the landfill or to burn into ash.
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