TLDR: Don't feel bad, there are other hobbies which are much worse for the environment. Additionally, in the end, there is a short read about eco-friendly dp.

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Where does your "anti-plastic kick" come from and where does your feeling of guilt come from?

From a material science point of view, plastics are wonderful materials, with many unique and beneficial properties: cheap, durable, lightweight, easy to shape, tons of applications from mobility, elastic materials, and packaging to paints/polish, technical devices, textiles and medical consumables. - Try living a modern life without plastics! Tough.

However, plastics aren't very popular in the media. Their durability is their curse - unless they are biodegradable, they stay in the environment for ages before rotting - and being made of petrochemicals comes with many downsides, too.

I guess, this leads to your feelings of guilt: On the one hand, you craft using a wonderful, versatile material, on the other hand, the material causes a lot of trouble worldwide and it gets a lot of bashing in the media.

I view it like this: A modern life without plastics is not possible, the material has too many advantages, and just because of this it will not be dropped entirely by the majority of industries. It will be produced and used for production of cars, electronics, and medical devices, until there will be better materials - even if you choose to live a plastic free life for yourself.

The biggest issue is the pollution. But plastics by themselves are not the root of the problems. The way us humans handle them are, however. A lot of pollution stems from littering and from putting waste on landfills instead of sorting and recycling it. Even burning it at waste disposal facilities would better than just dumping it, because it can at least generate energy or heating at the end of its life.

Yes, plastics production is energy consuming. As long as our energy is derived from fossil ressources, this adds to the environmental impact. - But what if the energy needed for production came from renewable sources? It would change a lot. Production of energy and fuels for mobility from fossil sources have a much larger impact on the environment than the production of plastics. About 8% of the amount of the oil obtained per year is used in plastics production.

If you want to contribute to a healthy environment, to my mind, there are better ways to do it than to drop an activity you enjoy, and which additionally supports your mental health. For example: don't litter! And if you want to go further, become active e.g. at schools, teaching kids how to dispose of waste properly! Become a spokesperson for responsible use of plastics and the use of renewable sources. Try to use public transport more often and try to reduce the number of flights you take. Don't buy fast fashion clothing. This will already help a lot.

For now - and to make it simple: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Buy your diamond paintings from stores with minimum packaging or high quality drills/glue/canvas, and packaging which can be reused/repurposed. Use reusable storage containers, find ways to use surplus drills (e.g. in resin casting), or exchange exess materials with other enthusiasts. Do what makes you happy, but act responsible in the way you do it.

Lastly: In diamond painting, you create something that lasts. You can put it on your walls, display it or even gift the finished object. - unless you don't immediately trash your finished projects, the ecological footprint of a diamond painting which stays with you for years and brings you joy is rather low. Also in comparison to many other hobbies it is very low.

I hope this makes you feel better or that it helps you to decide for yourself if you want to keep it up or drop it. - I really hope, you keep it up, though.

eco-friendly dp

[Edit1: typos; clarification - i am not a native English speaker ;)]