Happy Earth Day! Earth Day, which is actually celebrated on April 22nd, was established in 1970 to raise awareness and education about the environment. To learn more about Earth Day, click on the Earth Day photo.
As it relates to crochet, this is the perfect time to learn more about eco-friendly yarns.
Do you know:
- The difference between eco-friendly, organic, and sustainable yarns?
- That not all cotton yarns are organic?
- That not all organic yarns are considered sustainable yarns?
- Some yarns shouldn’t be used for children’s clothing?
- Where to buy eco-friendly/organic/sustainable yarns?
- What to look for to feel confident that a yarn really is organic or a yarn that isn’t harmful?
I didn’t either which is why I decided to do a blog series on eco-friendly yarns. Originally, I planned to do one post that described organic yarns, offered a few yarn recommendations, and included some patterns that used sustainable yarns. But as I researched more, I realized that to really do the topic justice and in a way that really gives you helpful, practical information, it would be better to cover the topic over several posts with smaller, more digestible chunks of information because the topic is more nuanced than I realized. Over the course of this overview, I’ll show you what I mean. I’ll be discussing:
- Eco- Friendly Yarns – What is eco-friendly vs organic vs sustainable and is one type of yarn better than another?
- Yarn Types – Synthetic vs Natural
- What to know about plant derived yarns
- What to know about animal derived yarns
- Where to buy organic yarn
By the end of the series, you’ll have suggestions related to selecting more eco-friendly yarns as well as a list of resources of where you can get organic and/or sustainably made yarn.
What is the difference between eco-friendly, organic, and sustainable yarns?
So what is the difference between eco-friendly, organic, and sustainable yarns?
Eco Friendly – Any yarn that does no harm to the environment in its creation can be considered eco friendly.
Organic – Organic yarns are yarns that have been produced without pesticides or insecticides so are less harmful to the environment.
Sustainable – Sustainable yarns are yarns that are made without depleting the earth’s resources.
But did you know that just because a yarn is organic doesn’t mean it was made sustainably? It’s true, sometimes the way fibers are grown or manufactured do more damage than good. In my next post, I’ll discuss this in more detail when I discuss yarn types. In the meantime, here are two great storage basket patterns that use upcycled yarn which is scrap, thrifted, reused yarn that would otherwise go in the trash.
1 – Cintia Gonzalez of My Poppet Makes made an eco friendly Scrap Yarn Basket pattern that’s great for toy storage.
2 – Veronika Cromwell of Blue Star Crochet used t-shirt yarn and old leather belts to create her upcycled Chunky Crochet T-shirt storage basket:
