(Guide) DIY Scarecrows With Sustainable Materials

Fall is a great season to start making your own DIY scarecrow. Whilst fitting in with the spooky theme of Halloween, scarecrows can actually be very useful for keeping prying birds off your delicious seasonal crops. Unfortunately, these days, so many people are utilizing materials that harm our environment, provoking the need for sustainable changes. This is relevant to scarecrow-making since individuals often use up new materials by purchasing a scarecrow from a store and encouraging the demand for harmful single-use plastic.

So, how can you make your own scarecrow with sustainable materials? Read on to find out.

At A Glance

At a glance, you may already have a few ideas about what kinds of materials you can use. Paper and card are excellent sustainable materials, although they won’t work so great in the rain, meaning that a paper scarecrow may only be a good idea if you’re propping it up in your home’s window. Thus, you may want to opt for more durable, sustainable materials such as recyclable cans, scrap metal that would otherwise go to waste, and even glass bottles!

Taking a look in your trash bin can be a great start—you could create your own ‘scrap man’ from what you already have available to you. By reusing materials you would otherwise be throwing away, you can extend material lifespans and keep items out of landfill sites. What kind of materials you utilize may depend on what type of scarecrow you will make.

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Birds Of Prey Scarecrows

Scarecrows shaped like a bird of prey can be a typical DIY project. You can use recycled materials to construct your bird of prey scarecrow and tire out your kids by encouraging them to gather feathers, scrap plastic wings, and a scrap plastic bottle body. You can string up the scarecrow from a post or a tree in your garden. Just remember – the more realistic the scarecrow is, the likelier it will be to protect your crops and frighten away those pesky birds.

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Human-Shaped Scarecrows

Human-shaped scarecrows are the most traditionally used type of scarecrow. Operating on the concept that birds will fly away if they think a human is near them, you can construct human-shaped scarecrows with many different sustainable materials. For example, you could tie a few sturdy branches together to create a cross. Then, drape the cross with scrap fabric and other recyclable alternatives. Leave loose ends of the material to flap in the wind to help make your scarecrow as realistic as possible. You could also create a fake head out of an old plant pot and an old hat. This is particularly great to keep old pieces of clothing out of landfill sites and extend material lifespans. Furthermore, you can keep your kids active by encouraging them to give the scarecrow a face. For example, you could utilize old buttons that you would have otherwise thrown in the trash.

Noisy Scarecrows

Using noisy scarecrows can be an efficient way to keep the birds at bay. With this option, you could reuse a couple of metal cans, bottle caps, or shells and hang them from a post or tree in your garden. The cans will make noise when it gets windy, thus scaring the birds away.

Key Takeaways

• There are usually good alternatives to using harmful materials in many situations. Even in the case of making a scarecrow, households are able to lessen their impact on the environment with simple material swaps.
• Furthermore, companies may be able to take advantage of offering consumers sustainable materials. Eco-conscious consumers are constantly looking for kinder products, meaning they are likelier to purchase materials from brands that value these ideas over those that don’t.
• Finally, every individual has the environment’s fate in their hands. If everyone made respective material swaps, we could burden our planet significantly less in the long run. For the protection of our world, we need to consider how we each approach the use of materials and what we actually allow to go to waste. By reducing waste and reusing scrap materials, we can all take a single step towards sustainability—and a step towards a better planet!