If you’re a maker just starting out your journey in sustainability, it can be overwhelming to figure out how to get started. From understanding the types of materials to utilize, learning what steps will help reduce waste and emissions, and finding inspiring new ways to explore creativity that don’t have a negative environmental impact. The good news is there are plenty of resources available for DIYers looking for ways to make their projects more sustainable – from simple switches you can make today, big-picture ideas for longterm change, or exciting new ways makers are helping push sustainability into the future. In these blog posts we’ll look at tips tricks and ideas specifically tailored towards diyers and makers on the road to creating projects with greater eco consciousness so that not only will you create something beautiful but also respect its impact on our planet!
As you may already know, our community projects library, Make: Projects, has a Reuse section, with dozens of projects related to reuse, recycling, “upcycling,” and the like. Here are a few of my favorites. DIY Soldering Iron StandHey there, my geek friend. Has this ever happened to you? (It’s happened to me.) You’re in a […]
RePlayGround turn scrappy materials and other urban detritus into wonderful upcycled projects and products. This Sunday, from 3-6pm, they’ll be turning cardboard, bottle caps, subway passes and other trashy crafts into holiday decorations at a private residence in north Brooklyn. There’s so much trash in this city waiting to be upcycled, you don’t need to […]
ChArLeS from Cambridge, MA, wrote in with his self-balancing scooter. SEGFAULT is a balancing vehicle with a 100% hardware stability controller. Not a single line of code runs to keep the vehicle upright. An analog complementary filter implemented with operational amplifiers combines the outputs of an accelerometer and rate gyroscope and passes it to a […]
Last year I wrapped all my Christmas presents in proof sheets from MAKE and CRAFT magazines. The gifts looked surprisingly good with a white background, splashes of color from photos and illustrations, and bits of interesting notes written by editors for corrections. I got my inspiration from an article that ran in CRAFT, Volume 5 […]
Spotted in the MAKE Flickr pool, from user gunterhausfrau.
Here is the third installment of our series of Make: Shorts covering “Maker Pioneers,” inventors, entrepreneurs, makers who are dreaming up clever solutions to today’s energy and environmental problems. In this video, we visit somebody MAKE readers are likely already familiar with, Limor Fried, aka Ladyada, from Adafruit Industries. Limor talks about Adafruit’s kit business […]
I’ve gotten myself well in to the habit of taking my reusable fabric bags to the grocery store, but I have to admit that I still feel a bit guilty when I fill those reusable grocery bags with plastic produce bags. I’m always on the lookout for a good fabric produce bag, and this one […]
