I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how people frame crafting as more sustainable/ethical than buying. It can be! But you gotta do it right. The sustainable, ethical part of making is the control one has over the supply chain of the object they make. An object made carelessly by a business and one made carelessly by an individual are essentially the same because the individual often only replaces one step in the supply chain: eg., a crocheter making a hat from new polyester (petroleum) yarn has no control over the mining of the petroleum, the processing of it into fiber, or the labor conditions any step of the way.
All this means that we makers have a responsibility, and a great power to actually know our supply chains! We must make carefully. We have the power to use thrifted, scavenged, or ethically harvested materials, or to make sure the companies that we buy our supplies from are just as passionate about sustainability as we are. We can use newspaper, broken glass, and scrap wood to rebuild our little corners of the world.
I say all this as an artist by the way. A metalsmith, knitter, and illustrator—when I buy metal I have no fucking clue if it’s recycled or if its mining is wrecking some ecosystem on the other side of the world. This year I’ve made a promise to myself not to buy a single new art supply.
Some caveats:
1. I still work a job where I have no control over the materials.
2. I allow thrifting because I honestly don’t see the harm
3. I obviously don’t think this is easy for everyone (I promise I don’t piss on the poor), and
4. I’m also not perfect—I have made exceptions for reusable tools and one commission that allowed me to donate to renter relief in areas hit by ICE.
So far it’s been a lot of reusing junk mail (I looove paper mache), mending, and whittling down my yarn stash. I’m really excited about the spoon I’m carving from the leg of my old wrecked bed frame. If you have a large stash or if you don’t and you really want to challenge yourself, I hope you consider it. It’s opened up worlds of potential and honestly made me more creative.
The biggest upside of making things over buying them is the ability to starve evil corporations of your business, and keep money out of the pockets of the rich. Let every thing you make be something you don’t have to buy, made of things you don’t have to buy, and share your things and the money you saved by making instead of buying with your community to exponentially increase your impact.
