4 Sustainable Jewellery Brands
After reading about why you should think about the sustainability of jewellery, it might have scared you off of ever buying jewellery again! This does not have to be the case. We have gathered a list of sustainable jewellery brands for you.
What is a sustainable jewellery brand?
Sustainable jewellery is the development of products that meet current needs, without compromising the needs of the future generations. Sustainable jewellery can also be seen as the process of change in order to achieve sustainability.
The aim of sustainable jewellery is to produce jewellery in a way that is best for the economy, environment and socially (for communities). It ensures that where the materials are sourced, and processed, are sustainable.
We have compiled this list of sustainable jewellery brands if you are not sure where to start with sustainable shopping:
1. The Wearness
The Wearness was founded in 2017. They stand for fair, and transparent products, without giving up style & quality. The Wearness is a marketplace where you can find different ethical brands, from clothing to jewellery. They have certain criteria that brands have to meet in order for them to add their products to The Wearness website.
The Wearness has measured their carbon footprint, and they ensure climate neutrality, renewable energy at their offices, sustainable banking and sustainable offices. Not only this, but they have also partnered with Ecologi, a non-profit organisation that helps companies to establish initiatives in corporate structures in order to improve the effects of climate change.
You can contribute by knowing that for every product sold on the Wearness website, a tree is planted. They have planted trees in Madagascar, as well as aid in the reforestation in Mozambique.
The Wearness uses biodegradable packaging to ensure that your products arrive safely with you. The packaging is made from corn.
2. Wild Fawn
Wild Fawn is a sustainable jewellery brand that creates minimal jewellery. It is made for everyday use, and the pieces are timeless. Therefore, it isn’t just made for the season, but to be worn forever. The jewellery is made to order, therefore they have minimal waste.
Wild Fawn only uses solid Sterling Silver and 9ct Gold, and they are registered as a Fair Trade Gold business. This means that the gold they use is either recycled or produced fairly & transparently. The silver that they use is recycled and eco Silver where possible. The scrap of the metals are melted down and then reused to make new pieces of jewellery. The methods that they use to make the jewellery, is also in an eco-conscious way.
The packaging that they use is recycled and recyclable.They use fabric pouches & paper wraps to ensure that the packaging is plastic free.
Their studio in South East London is energy efficient. They make an extra effort to reduce water usage and only use heating on cold winter days. They reuse paper and postal packaging where possible, and only print paper when it is absolutely necessary.
All the jewellery is produced at their studio, and they source their jewellery from EU suppliers in bulk in order to reduce C02 emissions from the delivery of products.
3. Norrfolks
Norrfolks was founded in 2017. They are Europe's first fine jewellery brand that uses lab-grown diamonds and recycled gold.
They source their gold from post-consumer waste.
The diamonds that they use are grown in selected labs across the world that recreates the same conditions that form diamonds underground. The diamonds are free from any conflicts (which means that there are no ethical issues when cultivating diamonds in comparison to traditional diamond mining), and it is grown using green energy.
The diamonds that they produce are cultivated from a single carbon seed. They place the carbon seed in an extremely hot fusion reaction, where carbon atoms are slowly formed into a diamond. This process takes around 3 weeks. The factory uses windmills and solar panels for energy.
Concrete Jungle was founded in 2015. They use high-tech-concrete to make their jewellery products. The concrete is up to 12 stronger than conventional concrete, which means your jewellery will last long. Their products are handmade in Frankfurt.
Concrete Jungle believes that they need to invest in the future of the planet. They have partnered with One Tree Planted, a non-profit organisation that runs projects towards the reforestation of forests in Africa, North America, Asia and South America.
When comparing concrete jewellery to regular gold, silver or other metal jewellery, the production of concrete jewellery releases much mess C02. Researchers have found that carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere during the production of concrete, but finished products of concrete and cement absorb more than half of the C02 during their lifetime.
Concrete Jungle also supports the association “Rettet die Elefanten Afrikas e.V.”. For each employee that they take on, they take on a sponsorship for an elephant orphan that has been rescued by the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. This ensures that baby elephants can be raised, fed and rehabilitated.
They also take part in Green Friday, which is a counter movement to Black Friday. On Green Friday, they donate a portion of their proceeds to social projects.
Concrete Jungle uses sustainable packaging. Their shipping boxes are made from recycled corrugated cardboard and the printing is done with environmentally friendly inks. The filling materials that they use are made of 100% recycled paper. The jewellery boxes that they use are made of FSC certified cardboard, with water-based glue.
How does Kleiderly contribute?
At Kleiderly, we aim to educate customers and businesses about sustainability in the best way possible with our Magazine. We have many articles about sustainability and what the best practices are.
We have also developed the first eyewear range made from recycled textiles, therefore reducing textile waste and oil-based plastics.
Sources:
https://thewearness.com/pages/our-story
https://thewearness.com/pages/sustainable-commitment
https://www.wildfawnjewellery.com/pages/our-commitments
https://www.wildfawnjewellery.com/pages/our-ethos
https://norrfolks.com/diamonds/