LEGOs as an Eco-Friendly Craft Supply?!?: Sustainable Projects Made from LEGOs

LEGO image via Shutterstock
LEGO image via Shutterstock

It’s a no-brainer, right? LEGOs are made of plastic, and that’s that. It’s not even a recycled plastic (although it is recyclable). Plastic just isn’t a green craft supply.

Except that LEGOs do have a couple of qualities that make them very intriguing to someone interested in eco-friendly crafting:

  1. You’d be crazy to throw LEGOs away. They’re too awesome! This means that all those LEGOs that you pick up from yard sales and Craigslist and receive passed down from older family members are very unlikely to ever enter the waste stream.
  2. You can take them apart and build something else. This means that when you build something for yourself from LEGOs rather than buying it, whether you use that thing for ten days or ten years, when you’re through with it you do not have something to get rid of–you have something to take apart and build something else with!

Not every LEGO project is a sustainable one–that LEGO TIE fighter set that you bought just to build and look at isn’t serving a purpose beyond helping you get your nerd on–but there are a few specific categories of LEGO projects that do help you avoid further consumption and disposal of new goods. Here are several great, sustainable LEGO projects to get you started:

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Written by Julie Finn

I'm a writer, crafter, Zombie Preparedness Planner, and homeschooling momma of two kids who will hopefully someday transition into using their genius for good, not the evil machinations and mess-making in which they currently indulge. I'm interested in recycling and nature crafts, food security, STEM education, and the DIY lifestyle, however it's manifested--making myself some underwear out of T-shirts? Done it. Teaching myself guitar? Doing it right now.

Visit my blog Craft Knife for a peek at our very weird handmade homeschool life, and my etsy shop Pumpkin+Bear for a truly odd number of rainbow-themed beeswax pretties.

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