What Exactly Is Sustainable Jewellery?
Sustainable jewellery is more than just a trend, it’s a movement. In an effort to minimise the environmental and social impacts caused by the jewellery industry, sustainable jewellery is becoming increasingly popular as consumers become more and more mindful of the products they buy. But what exactly is sustainable jewellery and why is important? In this blog, we’re giving you the down low on sustainable jewellery and why it should be high on your priority list when looking for your next piece. We also have a blog that goes into depth on how jewellery can be made sustainably.
Sustainability in the Jewellery Industry
The UK jewellery and watches industry is worth over £6 billion. With their sparkle and shine, it’s easy not to think about the impacts beautiful jewellery pieces have on our planet and the people within it. However, the jewellery industry has been notoriously unsustainable over the years, especially in terms of unsustainable mining in some of the world’s poorest regions. There has been much criticism over its lack of transparency and accountability when it comes to the extraction of precious metals and gemstones. Their extraction causes significant impacts on the environment and the communities whereby they are mined, not to mention the large levels of water and energy consumed with their production.
However, there are a growing number of sustainable jewellers that are taking on the industry’s environmental and social issues by showcasing the need and pure beauty of sustainably made jewellery, without any need to compromise on quality, design or luxuriousness.
What is Sustainable Jewellery?
Sustainable jewellery is a term used to describe jewellery that has been made using methods and materials that have a minimal environmental impact and have been sourced both responsibly and ethically. Another aspect of the sustainable jewellery movement is encouraging conscious consumption, focusing on pieces made to last and quality over quantity.
Here are the main aspects that contribute towards sustainable jewellery:
Recycled Metals
One of the biggest impacts of the jewellery industry comes from the mining and extracting of metals, such as silver, gold and platinum. Mining can consist of very destructive methods as well as the use of toxic chemicals, which negatively impact the planet and the local communities.
The use of recycled metals is therefore a much more sustainable method in jewellery creation than using newly-mined metals. Recycled metals sourced from old jewellery or industrial waste can be melted down and refined, to create beautiful new pieces. The amazing thing about using recycled metals is that you can’t tell the difference between recycled and newly-mined metals. Both have phenomenal shine and properties, yet one doesn’t damage the earth!
Sustainably Sourced Materials
Any resource that is over-consumed and not sustainably sourced will lead to damage to the environment and thus the local people and communities. Resources such as freshwater pearls can be heavily harvested using unsustainable farming methods like pesticides that can harm marine life, as well as underwater explosives that disrupt and damage ecosystems.
Supporting sustainable pearl farming practices, as well as the harvesting of other materials, is therefore essential when it comes to sustainable jewellery and creating a minimal environmental impact.
Lab-Grown Gemstones
The use of lab-grown gemstones helps to define sustainable jewellery as having a minimal impact on the environment. Traditional mining and extraction of gemstones have a great impact on the local communities and landscape, leading to many social-economic and environmental issues, especially in terms of over-consumption, high demand and over-mining.
Lab-grown gemstones are an ethical option for producing gemstones with the same properties as mined versions but with a much smaller environmental and social cost. Lab-grown gemstones are synthetically or culturally created within a laboratory setting with advanced technology that replicated the conditions needed for natural gemstones to form.
Why is it Important to Support Sustainable Jewellers?
It’s important to support sustainable jewellers because their efforts are helping to reduce the overall impact the jewellery industry is having on the planet and its people. Sustainable jewellery companies are helping to provide better transparency when it comes to the jewellery industry, promote more conscious consumerism, as well as becoming leaders of innovation when it comes to alternative, less impactful methods of creating stunning jewellery pieces, without compromising on design. By supporting and wearing sustainable jewellery, you can help to create a more responsible industry that looks after Mother Earth.
Sustainable Jewellery at Loveness Lee
Loveness Lee is passionate about protecting the planet and everything within it. Proud to be a British sustainable jewellery brand, every design and business decision is made with the brand’s environmental and social impact in mind.
At Loveness Lee, new life is created from pre-loved metals with all jewellery pieces handcrafted using 100% recycled silver. All pieces are handcrafted in London using locally and sustainably sourced materials, including lab-grown gemstones, to create stand-out pieces with dazzling shine. When you purchase a Loveness Lee piece, wear it with confidence, knowing it has played its part in protecting the planet and her beautiful landscapes.
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