Saving the Environment, One Pinterest DIY Tutorial at a Time

For as often as we talk about saving the planet, as a species, we often fall into the category of 'all talk and no action'.  We talk about taking the bus once in awhile, or using reusable shopping bags, or recycling.  But this often falls short of turning into legitimate action to reduce our impact on the planet.  Basically, we are incredibly good at avoiding what we should do most of time.  For example, am I eating tortilla chips for dinner?  Yes, yes I am.  (They were a vegetable at one time, right?)

But sometimes, the things we should do come in the disguise of something we want to do.  One way this occurs:  Pinterest.

Now, of course, we all know that the main purpose of Pinterest is so women can plan their future weddings in digital splendor, from dress, to ring, to colors.  Of course, I'm kidding. (A little).

But one thing Pinterest is also really good at is providing users with endless 'do it yourself', or 'diy' tutorials for everything homegood and craft-related.  Do you want to learn how to stain wood using ingredients like tea, vinegar, and hydrogen peroxide?  There's a tutorial for that, here.  Do you want to make a bowl out of an old record? You can learn how to do that here. (I've tried this one before, pictures below.  It's actually pretty easy and turns out well.)  How about a windchime made out of old beer bottle caps? Here's a tutorial for you. (Actually, this one is cool, too.  It took forever to save the caps, but there's a picture that, too.)

I made this, for some reason.

I made this, too.

Now, most of these crafts seem rather pointless.  But they have one thing in common: reusing materials that would otherwise be thrown away.  Reusing, recycling, and repurposing are all major themes that unite the many tutorials of Pinterest.  And this is important because it provides a way for everyday people to reduce their impact on the environment by reducing the sheer amount of things they send to the landfill each year.  And not in a way they should -- in a way they want to.  Admittedly, the impact of this is only minimal, but it is better than nothing.

Furthermore, the proliferation of Pinterest in everyday society shows that the concepts of diy, and finding ways to turn our trash into treasure are something that people are interested in.  It shows a cultural shift to being concerned about what we throw away, what we use in our homes, and how that affects the environment.  And more important than any number of beer bottle windchimes or paper flowers, this cultural shift will be what puts us on a path to being more sustainable going into the future.  Which is what we really need.

Yeah, I made these, too.

Yeah, at this point I'm just bragging a little bit.

As an added bonus, I had to find a way to incorporate this video into my blog.  This is a perfect representation of the true emotional connection to crafting -- a lot of love, but an even greater amount of trial and error and cussing.  (Warning: video contains mild, edited profanity.)