Precious Metals
I wanted to make ethical sourcing a key part of my jewellery making story, so that is why I select recycled whenever I buy any precious metal I use.
I buy most of my silver from, Cooksongold, as all their 100% recycled gold and silver bullion products are equal in quality to un-recycled precious metals, are supplied with a card of authenticity.
My Packaging
My gift boxes look fantastic in their contemporary grey colour, with my matt, white printed logo. They're high-quality gift boxes that are super eco-friendly, being made from 100% recycled material & they are recyclable themselves.
These boxes contain a removable, recycled non-tarnish eco-fibre insert which will maintain the natural shine of your jewellery. I buy my packaging from The Tiny Box Company,
UK specialists in eco-friendly and sustainable gift packaging. My husband Andy often ties the bows on the boxes, for that added personal touch. (And because he's much better at it than me.)
For my printing packaging I choose to use recycled card to ensure the prints remain crease free & I protect them further in self-seal compostable & bio-degradable envelopes. I looked for alternatives to conventional petrochemical (old carbon) plastic bags like Polyprop or PVC. The ones I use are made from Plant Based (annually renewable) PLA; derived from vegetable starches (cornstarch) & are compostable & biodegradable. Take a look at eco craft if you'd like to learn more.
When Jewellery making & printing
I made the choice of using paper from St Cuthbert's Mill, amongst other places, because of the ethical way they produce it. Their paper is non-bleached and the pulp is a byproduct from natural materials. They take great pride in protecting the environment they live in, making paper in harmony with the local countryside. Other paper I use is made by Seawhite, using paper cups as the source material.
When building my flower presses I made sure that the ply I used was from FSC approved wood; the FSC ensure that the forests are properly managed and replanted.
When choosing what I needed to set up my workshop, I decided to buy locally,
second hand or from sustainable sources. My amazing Gunning Press was pre-loved, the cupboards and drawers used organise my equipment, paper, inks etc. are secondhand too.
When choosing my inks I needed to make sure that they were professional quality oil-based ink for block printing on paper. These are made using vegetable oils so can be cleaned up with soap and water, rather than solvents and my Akua inks are soy-based. Sustainability is also why I use Elephant acrylics as they have created a new range of sustainably packaged paint which have been designed with the environment in mind, with fully recyclable tubes and FSC-certified packaging. Elephant even offers a free return scheme for responsible disposal of aluminium tubes and the lids
There are lot of other things I am doing to reduce my impact on the environment and make my business sustainable and eco-friendly, I'll make sure that I let you know about this in future blog posts, or updates here.
I've been working on my business impact and have looked at The Common Good Matrix and a Carbon Footprint Calculator to help improve my practice further.
Comments