If you didn’t know, today is America Recycles Day so we’re going to focus on ways to recycle with our papercrafting hobby!  Here are 5 ideas of how you can recycle leftover supplies:

1.  Punch out scraps of paper to use on cards or scrapbook pages.

2.  Received a Stampin’ Up! order lately?  Use that pretty brown packing paper on a card or scrapbook page.  I love to punch out scallop circles out of the paper and layer them to make poufy flowers.  You can even stamp on it!

3.  Donate all your scraps to a local elementary school to put to use in their creative projects.

4.  Use unconventional supplies on your cards or scrapbook pages – I’ve used the plastic pop can connectors and scratched CDs that no longer play on scrapbook pages.

5.  Save a cardboard box and tear the top layer off to reveal the corrugation.  Ink it up with craft ink or acrylic paint and use it to stamp a pattern on a card, scrapbook page or other project.  You can also re-purpose bubble wrap and use it in the same way.

6.  With the holidays coming, save the boxes you receive online orders in and reuse them to wrap your gifts this holiday season.  This is also a great tip for birthday present wrapping as well!  Do this instead of purchasing shirt boxes or other gift boxes and save money and help the Earth at the same time!

7.  Have supplies you haven’t used in a year?  Donate them to Operation Scrapbook, a charity that strives to provide Foster Children and children with cancer their own scrapbooking supplies completely free of charge.  Letting others “reuse” your supplies in this way, helps both those children, the Earth, and your own cluttered space all at the same time!   If you’d like to donate to Operation Scrapbook, send your donation to Operation Scrapbook, 3407 NE Excelsior St., Kansas City, MO 64117.

Pick one of these tips and contribute to America Recycles Day!