Cork is harvested from the outer layer of bark of the Cork Oak tree found mostly in the Mediterranean. The bark is harvested every ten years, with each harvest producing a softer batch of cork. By keeping these trees in production, they provide homes to wildlife in about 1800 acres of cork forests and provides many jobs to the people of who harvest the cork by hand. Cork is also 100% recyclable! Of course they can be used for these cool crafts, but companies like Yemm & Hart also collect donated wine corks to make products like tile flooring. This sustainability and ability to recycle make cork an environmentally conscious crafting choice!

These images are just a few cork crafts I discovered on Etsy! Check out their shops for even more!

1. Classic Chair Cork Coasters from Annacote
2. Cork Beehive Brooch from Ottoman
3. The UN-DIamond Cork Ring from Uncorked

Tell me about your cork crafts in a comment!

This is how it works: 

When you sign up to join the Drink Pouch Brigade, TerraCycle will mail out 4 prepaid collection bags to your address. Once a collection bag is filled at least 100 drink pouches simply drop it off at a UPS drop off location and Honest Tea will donate $.02 per Capri Sun, Kool Aid and Honest Kids drink pouches and $.01 per other drink pouch you collect to the charity of your choice.

If you are feeling a little left out of the crafting process. All you need to do it save 27 of the packs to make your own using these Wiki instructions, then mail the rest in!

(Photo courtesy of TerraCycle.)

There are a lot of resources on the web to help you plan your events. Kaboose is a family centered website with a whole section dedicated to celebrating Earth Day with the family. My favorite part, of course, are the crafts. This site has detailed instructions for creative recycled material crafts you can do on Earthday or any day! Some of my favorites projects include the coffee ground fossils, recycled crayon earth ornaments, and toothbrush bracelets.

PlanetPals.com is another fun resource filled with stories, coloring pages, games, science and crafts to help make Earth Day one of your kids new favorite holidays. 

Other things you can do to celebrate Earth Day as a family:

• plant a tree (or two)
• clean up a local park
• make Earth Day cards for friends with recycled magazines
• craft some Junk Mail Beads
• have a electronics-free day

There is so much fun to be had while learning about the environment. What are some of the ways you plan on celebrating Earth Day 2008??

Images of these adorable Handmade Reversible Enamel “Give a Hoot” Necklaces are courtesy of VerreEncore, they are $6 off until April 25th in observance of the holiday!

Cut Waste
Paper accounts for 40% of all municipal waste
Recycled paper means less trash, lower taxes & other disposal costs

Save Energy
60-70% energy savings over virgin pulp
The paper industry is the 3rd largest user of energy in the U.S.

Protect Natural resources
The U.S. uses 100 million tons of paper a year & use is increasing
Recycled paper uses 55% less water & helps preserve our forests
Recycling of waste paper creates more jobs

Reduce Pollution
The paper industry is one of the largest water polluters in the world
Recycled paper reduces water pollution by 35%, reduces air pollution by 74%, and eliminates many toxic pollutants

They now have a wonderful opportunity for artists that work with recycled plastics! I hope to see some submissions from our readers! To read the call for submissions…

FANTASTIC PLASTIC
Authors: David and Robin Edgar
Editor: Terry Taylor
Entry Deadline: July 7, 2008
Lark Books seeks images of original work to feature in the gallery of Fantastic Plastic by David and Robin Edgar. To be released in Fall 2009, Fantastic Plastic will capture the artistry of recycled plastic. From fun and funky to elegant and thought provoking, all sculptural forms will be considered and all types of plastic innovation will be welcomed.
Find an entry form here.

Photo copyright Billi-Jean.com. Used with permission

This ring is hand carved from a used number 11 pool ball…yes, a pool ball! How cool! Eleanor Salazar of PoolBallRings is an artist from Maine who can hand carve any color or number ball you like, in your size, and have it to you in two weeks. She even makes earrings. What a great gift for the pool shark in your life!

The 2ReVert shop asks, “Where has your Jewelry Been?” Being that these earring are made from used skateboards, one never knows what kind of trouble they got into in their last life. That is the best part about jewelry made from repurposed objects, the back-story (or perceived back-story) adds so much interest and personality to a piece.

Finally, Belcher from New York, has lots of ideas about what can be made out if used bike tires. This ring, for example, is a really simple use for the old rubber but the red and white stitching transforms it from old rubber tire to a decorative piece of jewelry. Be sure to check out his site to see the wallet too!

There is so much fantastic recycled jewelry out there, I could keep going all day! Please feel free to share your favorite recycled jewelry artists in a comment!

She now makes the coolest hand sewn toddler t-shirts (and pixie hats) made from 100% organic cotton and recycled fabric. Have an old Poison t-shirt from 1986 that you just can’t seem to toss? Why not give it new life with Sweet Pepita?

One of my favorite ideas from Emma’s map post was the adorable Paper Cotton Bird. I could not resist sharing this one made out of newspaper. This Etsy seller from England pays great attention to detail as she hand stitches each bird with embroidery thread using her own pattern. They are so darn adorable, I can’t stand it.

When talking about recycled newspaper crafts, I must mention Newspaper Jewelry. I had the pleasure of seeing these in person, and they really are spectacular. This stuning pendant is made up of newspaper headlines that were hand formed into beads and stitched together with Swarovski Crystal beads.

Finally I wanted to share this really cool recycled newspaper placemat from the Women’s Multipurpose Coopertive. This group, started in the Philippines, creates jobs for women and helps women working as artisans to obtain training, raw materials, low-interest loans, and obtain titles to their land. Such a great eco friendly gift idea.

John Bassett has been making these amazing glass panels and sculptures since 1979, long before green crafting was all the rage. John creates his works of art out of used bottles, chandelier parts, and other glass scraps. John says that his interests are in light, structure, line, texture, balance and color in that order.

I know most of us do not have the means to whip up art with our empty beer bottles, but I just had to share the wonderful way one artist has. So, I guess until I build a glass studio in my house, I will just put my bottles on the curb for recycling.

Some glass recycling facts from A Recyling Revolution:

	Every month, we throw out enough glass bottles and jars to fill up a giant skyscraper. All of these jars are recyclable!
	The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle can run a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. It also causes 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution than when a new bottle is made from raw materials.
	A modern glass bottle would take 4000 years or more to decompose — and even longer if it’s in the landfill.
	Mining and transporting raw materials for glass produces about 385 pounds of waste for every ton of glass that is made. If recycled glass is substituted for half of the raw materials, the waste is cut by more than 80%.

Justyn’s work is so interesting and original because he uses recycled photographs (mostly doubles and blurry snapshots collected from Craigslist) and a paper shredder to create his signature look.

I love this idea to use a paper shredder to cut the paper, just think of the possibilities! Although Justyn seems to always arrange the paper horizontally, think about weaving or alternating the orientation of the strips to create your own look. Your blurry outtakes and photos of ex-boyfriends will never look so good!

If you would like to add your own unwanted photographs to Justyn’s work, you can mail them to:

Justyn Hegreberg
P.O. BOX 13495
Portland, OR 97213-0495

Upcycling is what Tsia Carson, one of the brains behind SuperNaturale, is all about. In case you have not seen it yet, SuperNaturale is a fantastic site dedicated to all things DIY with an online magazine, bulletin boards and blogs. Carson’s book ‘Craftivity: 40 Projects for the DIY Lifestyle,‘ is based on her website and features 40 projects to turn your trash into treasure. As Anda from Etsy Storque says, “After only a few pages, you should be itching to visit a local thrift store, the back of your closet, or the dumpster behind your apartment for interesting (and free) supplies.”

If you are looking for some trash to upcycle, why not check out FreeCycle. Teensygreen just turned me onto this great site which allows you to see what kind of trash your neighbor might want to unload on you. Freecycle is a free service with more then 4,518,000 members! The main purpose of the site is to allow people to share unwanted items with folks in their own city instead of tossing more junk into landfills. As for me, I’m off to look for more plates to break!

They can customize for business or events and work with organizations to make fundraising kits. What a great way to promote your green business or raise money for a cause! Sure, there are recycled newspaper pencils on the market, but where else can you find pencils that smell like your favorite fruit or dessert? Life is too short to leave your sense of smell out of the experience of writing a letter!

No worries if you don’t know the first thing about making gifts - it is easier then ever to find cool, recycled, handmade gifts online. Online boutique Zanisa is a great place to find all sorts of recycled, organic and sustainable gifts like this necklace from designer Liana Kabel, made from recycled Tupperware! And of course, Etsy is the fantastic place to find original handmade gifts. Check out the daily Valentine’s Showcase for ideas.

Even if you are not a crafter, this recycled heart project from A Little Hut, is totally achievable. All you need is a paper egg carton, some red paint, background card-stock and a box frame to create something that your lover won’t soon forget. Check out her instructions right here. This would be a fun project to make with the kidlets too! A Little Hut also offers a gift box template on her website to house smaller gifts.

Let’s be honest, women do love flowers, but red roses show no creativity at all. If you really want to impress your crafty chick, why not giver her a vase of button flowers? This beautiful bunch here, made by Etsy seller, The Ripe Radish, is guaranteed not to die in a week! There are some really simple instructions on PBS Kids in case you are feeling extra crafty.

Mom always said that handmade gifts are best, but no one ever said that they had to be made by you! This year surprise your lover with a green gift from the heart and you will see that it will get you further then mall jewelry and waxy chocolate ever would!

(Girls, go ahead, print this and accidentally leave it on the desk.)

When I discovered Lisa Solomon on The Beholder, I fell in love. I would have never guessed that embroidering a simple paint chip could look so sophisticated. Her series of paint chip art plays with the fantastic descriptive names given to paint colors such as this one, Sparrow.

Another fantastic use for your reject color ideas is this colorful and functional card holder craft from Design Verb. There are incredibly detailed instructions and step-by-step photos on his blog.

My last recycled paint sample idea comes to us from Lollipoop Designs. She uses a paint sample cards as covers for her notebooks. What a great way to sandwich stacks of scrap paper! Be sure to check out Lollipoop Designs library card notebooks too!

Some other great uses for left over paint chip samples:

• greeting cards
• gift tags
• wine glass tags
• Holiday wreath
• Wallet!
• color lessons or memory game for kids
• scrap-booking
• faux mosaic

I’m sure you have many more ideas, please feel free to share them in a comment!

Paper bead making is a great craft for your little fashionista and is pretty simple to do. Using only junk mail, a toothpick and glue, this project is an easy way to get in a casual lesson on green living.

First, scour your junk mail pile and old magazines for colorful shiny paper to create your beads. The shiny varnished paper is pretty strong, brightly colored, and somewhat water proof. It is also more expensive to recycle, making it perfect for a project like this. Once your paper is selected, simply follow the following easy steps from HGTV:

1. Along the top edge of the paper, and starting 1-inch from the left side, place dots 1-inch apart.

2. Do the same on the bottom edge of the paper, but this time, draw the first dot 1/2-inch in from the left side.

3. Draw vertical lines between these dots to create long triangular strips, and cut them out.

4. Starting with the wide end of a strip, roll it tightly around a toothpick. Dab glue on the last 1/2-inch of the paper (the pointed end) to hold the coil in place.

5. Remove the toothpick.

6. Apply glaze over the bead (optional).

Tips:

• To make beads with a larger circumference, use longer strips of paper.
• Change the width of the strips to make wider or narrower beads.
• You can also use magazine covers and other slick papers to make beads. Even materials with some printing will do, since only the last inch or so of the bead is visible.

Don’t fret if your fingers grow tired of making junk mail beads, there are pre-made beads available at Junk Mail Gems, along with assembled necklaces, earrings and bracelets. Etsy seller Redbecca has a fun supply of handmade junk mail beads available too!

Happy beading!

Paper artist Patricia Zapata of A Little Hut created these amazing works of art as a solution to her junk mail problem. The framed piece is made up of tiny strips of newsprint randomly glued to card-stock. It was then covered with an abstract floral card-stock frame. See a video podcast of her process on the Craftzineblog. Patricia’s adorable junk mail trees are simply made of junk mail and bristol paper. A detailed tutorial can be found on her blog. These simple processes can be translated into thousands of projects. Thanks Patricia, for sharing your junk mail love!

There are so many junk mail projects, I could not fit them all in one post. Share your project in a comment and you could be featured in a future post! Stay tuned for more!

Take, for example, these adorable bird coin purses from Etsy seller Bird Versus Bird which are made from vinyl scraps from a sign shop. Imagine how many vinyl banners from State Fair corndog stands are filling up landfills? Yuck. This seller also uses repurposed and recyclable materials for packaging in order to reduce waste.

This “Beer-merang” necklace earned its name from the boomerang shape and the fact that it was made using the plastic rings from a 6 pack of PBR beer. Saving critters lives, recycling, and looking cool, that is what it is all about! Check out Muse Glass for more styles.

If you have ever visited the record section of a thrift store, you will know that they have more discarded vinyl there then anyone knows what to do with. How many Kenny Rogers records does one store need? Nature Vs. Machine brings us this stunning vinyl record and sterling silver lotus necklace. Kenny Rogers never looked so good!

We all have some records laying around, don’t we? Instead of adding to a landfill or the thrift store collection, why not make some funky chip bowls like this one? Check out these instructions from Instructables to find out just how easy it is. (Just make sure that your record is not valuable collector’s first!) I think I know what to do with my old Alvin and the Chipmunks album!

There are so many ways to use recycled plastics in crafting - I could go on all day! Feel free to share your plastic crafts in a comment!