In an effort to reduce waste, I've been taking a good look at where I can reduce and reuse the scraps from this handmade business. I currently collect all my fabric scraps from the banners into a bag and take it down to the textile recycle bin every fortnight. I even created a brand new product to use up the bigger scraps from the fabric banners: pom-pom bunting (soon to be online, I promise!).
What produces the most amount of waste? Pom-Poms.
One of the reasons I changed all the yarn I use in the kits and on the banners from acrylic to wool is because of the waste and the impact of that waste. Sheep production comes with its own set of issues (methane produced from sheep farts and water consumption) but acrylic is synthetic and it will never break down if it heads to landfill. So here are a few ways to re-use your pom-pom off-cuts so that none of the pom-pom fluff heads to landfill.
Fluff for stuffing pillows
Either collect it as is, or mix it in with your usual toy stuffing when making pillows and other stuffed projects. I recommend using biodegradable toy stuffing for your projects too, instead of polyester. We stock 100% sheep's wool toy stuffing in the shop, which we also use in all our workshops.
Use it as animal bedding
If you have scraps made from wool or other natural fibres, use it for animal bedding for your hamster, mouse, gerbil, guinea pig, rabbit... you get the idea! They can make a nice cosy bed from it once it's mixed with their hay or wood shavings.
Craft projects
Think of it as fluffy glitter... PVA glue and stick that fluff! It will be messy, you have been warned but maybe not as bad a glitter and kids will love it.
Compost it
I only recently learnt that you can compost wool and any other natural fibres in your home compost bin. How amazing is that? Make sure you're only putting in natural fibres, so no acrylic/wool mix yarn scraps. We only stock 100% merino wool so if you're making pom-poms from our Starter Kit or with our Pom-Pom Yarn then you can save the scraps, even the strong string from tying the pom-poms and sewing threads can be added to your compost heap in your garden.
If you have any more ideas, I'd love to hear them! Leave a quick comment below, or let us know on Instagram or over on Facebook.