5 Key Sustainability Components For Jewelry Brands
May 05, 2022 | Demi-Lee Nicholson
What is sustainable jewelry?
Sustainable jewelry is jewelry that is made and produced ethically with the use of sustainable materials. Sustainable jewelry is not only better for the environment, but better for the people who make it. Sustainability aims to protect our environment and help us survive longer. Human rights can be protected through sustainability, as it ensures that workers are being paid equally.
Like the fashion industry, the jewelry business has started to become more aware of how important it is to make your business more environmentally friendly. It’s not just the industry that cares about this, it’s the customers. In fact, in one survey 66% of all respondents, and 75% of millennial respondents have said that they consider sustainability when purchasing a product. So here are 4 tips on how to make your jewelry business more sustainable. #1 Reduce Packaging
Photo by Jackie Tsang on Unsplash
An easy place to start with making your jewelry brand more sustainable is to cut down on your packaging materials. Keep packaging to a minimum and only use recycled materials. Packaging is an important part of any product, it’s what draws customers in. So your packaging should reflect your brand’s morals. By ensuring that the packaging is fitted to the products, you’re also less likely to receive complaints of broken products.
Or, if you are using extra packaging, ensure that it is biodegradable or made solely from renewable sources. The worst type of packaging is single use plastics, so try and avoid it as much as possible. While more environmentally friendly options may be more expensive, they can help your business in the long run.
#2: Recycled Materials
Photo by Bulbul Ahmed on Unsplash
During the mining process, the air, water and soil around the mine become polluted, but thankfully, a lot of metals are recyclable, especially gold. Recycling silver or gold instead of using newly mined metals not only affects the environment a lot less, but the end result looks the same and is the exact same quality. You can also buy Eco-friendly wire and metal sheets.
#3 Renewable Energy
Photo by Marcell Viragh on Unsplash
Becoming more Eco-friendly is all about making the right choices. When picking products, shopping for clothes, or picking out jewelry you can directly influence the amount of waste you create.
Another great option for our environment, opt for renewable energy sources whilst working. For example, you could look into installing solar panels, or switching to an energy company that uses windmills as an energy source. Or even switch to biomass, which is produced by living organisms such as plants like corn and soy.
#4 Taking Care Of Employees
Photo by Jess @ Harper Sunday on Unsplash
To be a successful and ethical jewelry brand you must always take care of your employees, by doing so you will become a good example towards employees, customers and other brands. There are many ways you can support your employees, for example, breaks, snacks, VIP perks for employee of the month, etc. Or even just by showing some appreciation for all of their hard work, you will also earn their respect. This will not only create a healthy work environment for them, but also for you. A key aspect of ethical jewelry is the absence of exploiting workers.
#5 Lab Grown Diamonds
Another great option is sourcing ethical diamonds. Diamond mining is no different to gold mining. Diamond mining is also damaging to our environment for the same reasons. Toxic carbons get released into the air by diesel fuels, hydrocarbons and electricity. So to avoid contributing to this, use lab-grown diamonds or recycled diamonds. Lab-grown diamonds are also free of conflict because they do not come from mines, so they’re also socially ethical. Lab grown diamonds are still real diamonds, and are still luxurious and have the exact same chemical and physical properties. So, if you’re wondering whether they still look the same as natural diamonds, they do. However, they aren’t as expensive as natural diamonds due to the cost of finding and mining natural diamonds.
In Conclusion…
By reducing your packaging, switching to recycled materials and even opting for renewable energy to run your business, there’ll be less waste, and your customers will be happier. Use these tips to make small changes, and maybe one day you'll find yourself living a zero-waste life. If everyone embraced at least some Eco-friendly practices, we could create a healthier environment. Less waste filling our landfills, cleaner oceans, and fresh air for future generations!
I hope this blog helped you learn more about sustainability and the importance of ethically sourced jewelry. If you enjoyed this, maybe you will enjoy one of these blogs too.
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