What is Sustainability and how can it be applied to the jewellery industry?

[Ben Manning]

Hi I thought I'd start this group with a question fundamental to its existence. Sustainability is generally defined as something that is "Capable of being continued with minimal long-term effect on the environment". Other words also used to describe similar ideas are eco-friendly, ethical and is some cases fair trade (but fair trade items are not necessarily sustainable, a topic for another day).
In my experience working around Australia and in the UK the jewellery industry as a whole is anything but sustainable. From mining to dangerous chemical use and workers rights all that glistens is not good.
For me making jewellery is a privilege. I get to craft mini works of art from rare, precious materials for wonderful people who cherish them for life. All was fine until I started looking into the chemicals I was using, interested in what I should do if I inhaled the fumes. I found it wasn't just me at risk, what about the waste from the plant that made the chemicals, where were they made? The more I looked the more I freaked out. Everything I did I found had a negative effect somewhere else, so I looked to the internet and other jewellers for advice. Five years ago there was a small but growing community of jewellers already looking into this problem, a few left over from earlier 'eco' times. Now it is becoming a wave and consumers are pushing it further, expecting more for their green $$$. Having interested consumers is fantastic, it makes sustainability a profitable way to go as well as ethical.
I have been researching and developing ways to make jewellery making processes and supplies sustainable for quite a while now and the great thing is we can do loads of things to reduce out impact. These are a few of the things I do in my studio:
Recycled metals, vintage and ethically mined stones, Rainwater, eco-friendly cleaners in Ultrasonic, vegan polishing compound, Certified Organic Cotton polishing mops, Citric acid pickle, Green power.
Many of these supplies I now sell to other jewellers and I am bringing out a catalog early in the new year to make it easier for us all to tread a little lighter on our planet.
I am always researching and developing new products, I'm currently trialling the use of electric soldering stations that can be green powered reducing the need for burning gas.

I would love this group to be an open discussion of new ways to reduce our impact and peoples own experiences with everything from materials to consumer interest. I hope we can all have an impact on our industry and help create a cleaner more diverse world for the future.

How have you or how would you like to apply sustainability to your work?

[Mary Hackett]

I would like to know more about the citric acid pickle. Can you buy it in Melbourne easily?

[Ben Manning]

Citric Acid can be purchased in most supermarkets in the baking section. Just use it like you would with pickle powder, but be careful while it is more mild and can be used in food it is still an acid. The containers are quite small so Ill be offering larger ones for sale in Utopian Creations new sustainable jewellery supplies catalog that will be released early in the new year. Info and instructions will be available on www.sustainablejewellery.com soon. If you would like to be on the mailing list for the catalog just add me as a friend. Thanks

[Eily O' Connell]

I feel extremely guilty whenever I oxidize my jewellery with liver sulphur.....Is there a more eco friendly way of blackening???!!

[Ben Manning]

Hi Eily, I had the same problem and actually gave up colouring silver for a while but I have found a couple of answers. One is eggs. My jewellery is vegan so I don't use this method but I have tried it (with eggs from my exbattery hens) and it does work, normally. The best way I found is to hard boil some eggs, just try two or three to start with. Then peal them and mash them up in a microwave proof container. If they are still warm put the silver in the mash. The mash needs to be warm, if it cools remove the silver and put it in the microwave and warm. I found this method to be messy and wasteful. It doesn't give the best result on silver either, but you do get some interesting browns and patterns.
The best thing I have found is sulphur solutions sold at hardware stores for controlling fungal diseases on plants. Most of these are ok to be used in organic gardening as the ingredients are also used by plants as a natural food. They last a lot longer than L of S if kept in a sealed container out of the light and they are really easy to use. To wash the silver off use an outside tap and a bucket. That way you can spread out the diluted sulphur on your garden rather than sending it down the sink.
If you need any more info just ask.
Utopian Creations eco jewellery and supplies.

[Eily O' Connell]

Thanks a million shall go and try some of those tips!!! Great :)

Ben Manning said:

Hi Eily, I had the same problem and actually gave up colouring silver for a while but I have found a couple of answers. One is eggs. My jewellery is vegan so I don't use this method but I have tried it (with eggs from my exbattery hens) and it does work, normally. The best way I found is to hard boil some eggs, just try two or three to start with. Then peal them and mash them up in a microwave proof container. If they are still warm put the silver in the mash. The mash needs to be warm, if it cools remove the silver and put it in the microwave and warm. I found this method to be messy and wasteful. It doesn't give the best result on silver either, but you do get some interesting browns and patterns.
The best thing I have found is sulphur solutions sold at hardware stores for controlling fungal diseases on plants. Most of these are ok to be used in organic gardening as the ingredients are also used by plants as a natural food. They last a lot longer than L of S if kept in a sealed container out of the light and they are really easy to use. To wash the silver off use an outside tap and a bucket. That way you can spread out the diluted sulphur on your garden rather than sending it down the sink.
If you need any more info just ask.
Utopian Creations eco jewellery and supplies.

[elizabeth shaw]

Hi Ben
'The more I looked the more I freaked out' is a usual response and it is great that you didn't then follow that feeling with 'It's too hard so I won't bother'.
Liz

[Catherine Marche]

I have been told that in the Uk, 90% of the gold for sale has been recycled, that's very interesting

[Ben Manning]

Do you have any figures? The market has been heavily shaken recently due to the world economic crash, pushing gold prices very high. This has caused record highs in people selling off old gold jewellery but this is not 'normal' or sustainable.
I cant find anything quickly about the UK but here are some figures for the USA http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/269905.html I wouldn't think the UK would be much different, if anything they may be worse due to lack of space and high cost of recycling.
It says around 50% of the gold sold in the US was from recycled sources which I'm sure you will agree is a good start. The thing is lots of gold is sold in the US so there is still a huge amount of mining taking place to fill the other 50% and that means ecological distruction somewhere else. There is about 30,000 tons of gold sitting in banks that could fix this but nobody will even talk about it, its too big a problem to dificult to change.
The best solution I can find is a huge change from within the industry. A change to mining practices and in some cases the closure of some mines. Yes it would be expensive to make gold mining safer and cleaner and it would lead to an increase in the price of gold but this is not a bad thing as we have seen it would lead to higher rates of recycling!
At the end of the day its the jewellery industry that needs to stand up for its self and stop the damage done beautifying humans.

[Sarah Green]

Through my experience so far as a jeweller, I have noticed there is alot of waste through using emery papers until they are not as gritty, then throwing them out. Is there a 'greener' way of emerying your work that is not so wasteful? Or other alternatives?

[Ben Manning]

This is one of the big things left on my list. You can use techniques that avoid sanding, but that is never my aim. To change our industry we must find alternatives that will be accepted by the mainstream. There isn't anything on the market that I have found so far. All your old emery should be recycled/refined to recover any precious metal but as far as an eco alternative to using aluminium oxide try glass paper?
If there are any manufacturers out there we would like an emery paper made from 100% post consumer waste paper, eco-friendly adhesive and recycled glass from old bottles. I cant see any reason why it wouldn't work. It would be hard to get it to work with water but a bit of research on adhesives could fix that. My Simple eco-sneeks use eco-adhesives and they dont fall apart when I put my foot in a puddle.
Ill ask around some of the big manufactures (and some smaller ones) and see if they are interested. You never know they may already be thinking that way.

[Lauren Harris]

Ben, thanks soooo much for helping me with advice so I can spread my greener existence into the work shop!!!! I still have a long way to go but I know every little bit helps. I am realy ispired by the way you work and your enthusuasm towards doing what you believe in. Good on you!!!!!! Cheers, Lauren

[Ben Manning]

Great to talk with you today. Let me know if you have any more questions or ideas. Good luck

Lauren Harris said:

Ben, thanks soooo much for helping me with advice so I can spread my greener existence into the work shop!!!! I still have a long way to go but I know every little bit helps. I am realy ispired by the way you work and your enthusuasm towards doing what you believe in. Good on you!!!!!! Cheers, Lauren