Happy Earth Day Metalicious lovers! We love the earth and strive to leave as small a footprint as we can everyday here at Metalicious. Today as we celebrate this wonderful planet we call home, I’d like to take a moment to talk about our commitment to creating socially and environmentally responsible jewelry. We are 100% committed to using recycled metals and ethically sourced and lab created gemstones. We want to make sure that we decrease our carbon footprint, and treat the earth with the respect it deserves. All the metal that goes into creating our jewelry is 100% recycled.
What is recycled metal jewelery? Rather than working with the mining industry that digs up the earth and often has poor working conditions and major social consequences, we work with fine metal suppliers who only use metal that has been melted down from pre-existing metal. It is then cleaned and formed into new usable gold or silver or palladium or platinum (or whatever fine metal I'm using). That process is called refining. Refined/recycled metal is exactly the same as earth-mined metal but without the consequences.
Where does the metal come from then? These sources for recycled metals include existing jewelry, scraps from jewelers and industrial use (like computer parts for example). Because of the refining process, these metals are the exact same quality of newly mined metal but without the environmental impact. We have made a conscious decision here at Metalicious to work with companies that deal solely in recycled precious metal and strive to use green and renewable energy in the refining process as well as hold their precious metal suppliers to high standards of responsible sourcing. In the Metalicious studio, as we work at the bench on your special jewelry, we save all of our scrap metal to be refined to be made into more beautiful jewelry :) Even the dust we create is captured and refined to be used again and made into something new and precious.
What about your gemstones, are they ethical?
In addition, we use only ethically sourced and lab created gemstones. I am devoted to staying conflict-free and to using the resources that harm the earth the least amount possible. This means not working with large gem-mining corporations that disrupt ecosystems. Even in small scale gem mining, if the miners are not properly trained, they can greatly disrupt the earth through water pollution and more. So my gem sources understand the consequences of poor mining and strive to have as little environmental impact as possible. I also LOVE working with lab created gemstones. Science has come so far in understanding the composition of different gems and recreating them in a lab so that we don’t have to diminish our natural resources. These gems are perfect alternatives for the gem lover that does not want to be harmful to our lovely earth. It is amazing what scientist have discovered and created-- to me it definitely shows the connection between art and science :) Some of the lab created stones I use are blue sapphire, emerald, ruby, and moissanite. Moissanite is a great alternative to the traditional diamond, it is has more sparkle than a diamond while remaining respectful to Mother Earth. I am always happy to answer any customer questions about my process, materials and sources I use in creating my jewelry. It is so important to me to love the earth and create jewelry that is socially and environmentally conscious. Let’s keep working toward a clean and bright future on our planet :) Feel free to ask any questions in the comments below. Looking to recycle your old jewelry? Click here to learn how.
