This post contains affiliate links for products I use and love.

Hi friends! I hope you are all doing well out there. I had a great time designing my Better Together Earth Square for the In Bloom Spring CAL last month – Earth Month! I’m sad it’s ended, but it did give me a little of my crojo back.

Earth Month may be over, but it’s never too late to focus on how you can improve sustainability and decrease your footprint.

You might be thinking: Is crochet really wasteful? It only has two required supplies – yarn and a hook. Seems pretty minimal!

Well, that is true. But there are ways you can mindfully improve your footprint in a few aspects of the craft. Below are 5 sustainable ways you can crochet!

1 – Use sustainable fibers

Even as a certified Earth lover, it took me a long time to really internalize what acrylic was and what it means for the environment (the answer: it’s plastic!). I have a huge stash of acrylic yarn I’m dying to use up, but every time I buy new yarn I think really hard about what fiber I need to use.

Wool and plant-based fibers (think cotton, bamboo) are made from natural sources, are biodegradable, and can be sustainably produced. Experimenting with cotton has been really fun so far!

Since my descent into a more crunchy lifestyle, I’ve also become more aware of what I put on my body and near my face. I’d prefer to have cotton or wool floating through the air or going out my washing machine drainage than small pieces of plastic.

Being honest, I will continue to use up my acrylic stash, and I will likely use it in the future! But I have added some steps to my decision making process to consider environmental effects.

Below are some examples of beautiful natural fiber or blended yarns that aren’t just meant to be rugged (affiliate links):

1. Paintbox Cotton Yarns (all weights!)
2. Lion Brand Coboo (DK)
3. Lion Brand Wool-Ease (worsted)
4. Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick (super bulky)

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My designs using natural fibers:

• Nantucket Baby Blanket (Paintbox Cotton)
• Holiday Hygge Throw (Etsy) (Wool Ease)
• Buffalo Plaid Fingerless Gloves (Wool Ease)

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2 – Save scraps for stuffing or garland

I definitely have trouble throwing out perfectly good yarn, even if it’s just a few yards. How can you just waste it?! But what do you do with it?

Very short pieces (like leftovers from fringe) I have in a bag to be used as stuffing for amigurimi or props.

To be honest, I don’t make much of those, so most of my tiny amounts of yarn are balled up awaiting to be made into tassel garland. What I love about this is that you don’t need to have ALL matching yarn to make tassel garland. Just using coordinating colors/textures could make a beautiful boho garland.

3 – Make stash-busting projects

Every so often – but ESPECIALLY during this quarantine life – I see stash-busting pattern releases and round-ups. I love that people put together lists of projects that make great stash-busters. I’ve seen a lot of designers getting together to make pattern bundles as well. Signing up for designers’ email lists have delivered me a lot of these!

Some basic stash buster ideas:

• Small accessories (hats, headbands/ear warmers, cowls, mittens, boot cuffs)
• Scrap/striped blankets
• Granny squares to join
• Pom-pom or tassel garland
• Colorwork pieces (using the small amounts of yarn for the colorwork)
• Kids’ dress-up pieces (crowns, bags, capes, costume hats)

4 – DONATE yarn – don’t throw it away!

What if you just CAN’T find something to do with that pesky stash yarn? If you’re like me you hesitate to throw away anything at all. I lived in Germany for about 6 years and their recycling program is AMAZING. It basically ruined me for anything that doesn’t attempt zero waste. But anyway – just like you can donate clothes, home goods, etc, you can donate yarn!

I would of course be reasonable – clean, good condition, not scrap-status yarn. Crocheting costs money, and what better way to give back to your planet AND community by donating to a thrift shop?

Another option: If you need to replace the value, you could always host a stash sale on Facebook, Insagram, or other reselling sites.

5 – Frog & reuse

Don’t hate me for this one. If you made something but just don’t love it, frog it! There is yarn in there that is dying to become something you love and will actually use.

If you know something is going to sit in your WIP pile because you changed your mind about it, or you made a garment that just doesn’t fit properly – frog it and repurpose that yarn. Wind it up and put it back in your stash. That way it will be visible when you’re looking for the perfect fit for your next project. Or maybe it will spark new inspiration itself!

BONUS – Use plastic wrappers for baby toys

I HAVE to add this green tip that I got from Jessica from Jessica Paz Creates. It completely blew my mind and I want to make all the baby toys now!

Jessica recycled empty wipe packages to fill Crafty Rainbow Rattles and make them into crinkle toys. Seriously – mind blown. I would never have thought to do that!

Stuffed items are such a staple for baby gifts, but you can easily make ANY stuffed project into an interactive crinkle toy. I just love this idea so much. Go check out her post on this and read all the comments of other fabulous green ideas!