Jewellery Goes Eco-Friendly
5.7 k views | By Gretel Hunnerup
Ecologically-responsible jewellery is a fresh product in the burgeoning
market for nature-friendly goods. GRETEL HUNNERUP reports on “Fair trade” jewellery and other social issues.
Never has it been so fashionable to be green. Sure, the hippies may have worshipped Mother Earth and the greenies have done their bit to champion the values of environmentalism in the decades since, but the contemporary interest in all things green has never pervaded mainstream society like it does today.
Now, it’s not unusual for consumers from all walks of life to shop for organic groceries using calico bags, drive hybrid cars and to choose renewable energy. The message is clear – environmentalism is in vogue and companies who venture into green territory stand to fare extremely well.
According to US market research firm Unity Marketing, eco-trade can benefit the luxury-goods sector most of all.
The firm’s trend report, Green Marketing and the Luxury Consumer, illustrates that consumers with the big bucks, particularly women, are increasingly looking to a company’s environmental practices before a purchase.
In response to these findings, Unity Marketing president Pam Danziger wrote in the firm’s Luxury Business Newsletter, “The typical ‘green’ consumer is no longer certain to be a fashion-challenged, granola-crunching wearer of Birkenstocks. Today, the customer looking to go green is increasingly likely to be an affluent professional woman dressed in an eco-friendly, animal-free Stella McCartney power suit.”
Under the general umbrella of environmentally-friendly luxury goods falls eco-jewellery, a relatively young category that includes the recycling of old jewellery, the reworking or “up-cycling” of items to give them second lives in jewellery pieces, minimal-impact manufacturing and packaging, and the use of gems and metals mined via less-intrusive methods.
“Fair trade” jewellery – generally, jewellery made under ethical working conditions and featuring materials sourced in a socially-responsible manner – is another important facet.
Much of the jewellery industry woke up to the concept of eco-jewellery in 2004 with advent of No Dirty Gold, an Oxfam America campaign designed to draw attention to the impacts of irresponsible gold mining with a view to engendering change.
In 2006 came the New York launch of the Madison Dialogue, a second defining moment in the eco-jewellery timeline where jewellers and mining executives met with conservationists and jewellery council representatives to set-up sustainable development and best-practice initiatives including the Kimberley Process and the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance.
Now, independents with an interest in conserving the planet, and tapping into an increasingly fruitful market, are leading the charge, with US-based companies having the most success.
Virginia-based manufacturer Hoover & Strong, for example, stocks lists of US jewellers in over 20 states with Harmony Metals, a range now comprising 30,000 products made from 100 per cent recycled gold, platinum, palladium and silver, and paired with conflict-free diamonds and fair-trade gemstones.
Web-based Texas business GreenKarat has established itself in the hugely lucrative wedding market by offering myKarat, an innovative online registry where family and friends can pledge their old jewellery to be melted and re-moulded into wedding bands.
Having already convinced some major department stores to stock its high-end recycled and fair-trade collection named Clear Conscience Jewelry, California-based designer and manufacturer Lori Bonn Design is now working with the Madison Dialogue to develop industry-wide certified fair trade standards for all precious metals and gemstones.
These are just a few of the many designers operating in what is becoming a strong market for eco-jewellery, further evidenced by the US arm of the European Gemological Laboratory having recently unveiled the Envira Series Report, a certificate that evaluates the authenticity of environmentally-friendly jewellery.
Here in Australia, the movement is still very much in its infancy, with just a handful of jewellery designers dedicating their businesses to the creation of eco-friendly pieces.
Given this fact, plus the tendency of Australian consumers to take their trend cues from overseas, there is an obvious opportunity for proactive makers and retailers to differentiate themselves by employing eco-friendly practices and spreading the word.
Natasha Wernick of Babareki Beads was probably the first to do exactly this in 2003 when she started selling a beaded jewellery range, Eco Collection.
“Back then, my jewellery wasn’t as eco-friendly as it is now because I was using polymer clay, which I’ve recently heard is a by-product of the plastics industry,” Wernick explains. “Now the beads are either made from natural materials like stones and shells, or they’re recycled. I’m working on a new product using only string and cord rather than plastic coated wire. It’s an ongoing process, trying to make your business eco-friendly.”
Wernick has since closed down her gallery to concentrate on fielding sales from her website (www.ecojewellery.com.au).
“It’s true that the industry is still very young, but I’m finding a lot more retail outlets are contacting me these days,” she says. “Retailers are beginning to really appreciate having an eco-option because they know that environmentally conscious buyers are becoming more common. As soon as the customer sees that a product is eco-friendly they respect the retailer more because they’ve made an ethical decision.”
Ben Manning also makes eco-friendly jewellery in Australia, with pieces made from silver extracted from x-rays and old photographic wastes. Operating under Utopian Creations, Manning purchases pure silver from a recycling company and makes sterling silver by adding copper from old phone chargers. He also makes use of bamboo and soy yarn, up-cycled rubber from the telecommunications industry, and also features vintage crystals in one collection.
While most of Manning’s product is sourced by overseas retailers, he sees much promise for eco-jewellery in Australia.
“Other industries have grabbed-hold of the eco-movement faster than the jewellery industry has because consumers are closer to production,” he says. “If you’re building a house, you know about the materials, for example, whereas with jewellery, you just walk into a shop to see the finished product. Thankfully, more articles are being written about green weddings and I think that will drive the eco-jewellery trend and flow-on to fashion jewellery, because people will be better educated.”
Manning is doing his bit to educate both retailers and consumers about what eco-jewellery is by setting-up an information hub at www.sustainablejewellery.com.
“The hardest part about heading down the eco-friendly route is that there’s not one place to gather research,” he explains. “It’s taken me years to gain the knowledge needed – that’s why I started this website.”
Above all, it is vital that those Australian jewellery suppliers and retailers wishing to market themselves as “green” must have a genuine commitment to sustainability.
Simply profiting from the eco-trend is not only unethical but also undermines and damages the efforts of others who are attempting to clean up the supply chain.
This practice is called “green washing”, and competition watchdog ACCC will be clamping down hard on those whose environmental claims are not scientifically sound and appropriately substantiated from now into the future.
Eco-friendliness is not always easy to achieve in an industry built on mining and sustained through many hands and the heavy use of energy; however, retailers can best arm themselves by knowing the particulars of a product.
“Retailers must ask their suppliers where their materials come from and why they believe them to be eco-friendly,” Manning says. “If they can’t answer, you know there’s something wrong.”
Wernick agrees, adding, “My advice to retailers would be to never stop researching. Ensure the product you stock has been made under the principles of fair trade and the right energy has been used in its creation.”
Don’t stop there - How to green up!
Being eco-friendly doesn’t have to end with sustainable jewellery: here are 10 easy tips for greening up a marketing plan, a store and ultimately, the planet.
• Donate some profits to an environmental organisation or a community adversely-affected by the mining industry.
• Replace light bulbs with compact fluorescent ones. They last longer.
• Keep track of the worldwide eco-jewellery industry by logging onto www.fairjewelry.org, a site with its finger on the pulse.
• Use only recycled paper and fabric for all jewellery packaging.
• Create an eco-labelling system so customers can see what kinds of materials go into making each piece of jewellery.
• Study the trend-setters in other industries who are creating a dedicated following among green-living luxury consumers.
• Conserve paper by advertising on the web.
• Check out the ACCC’s new report: Green marketing and the Trade Practices Act, to ensure the business is operating within the guidelines and discover what else can be done to go green.
• Switch to renewable energy and give customers the option of offsetting the greenhouse-gas emissions created in the manufacture their jewellery by donating a small amount to that company.
• Choose an energy saving website for the business and publish the store’s green efforts for all to see.
Posted September 01, 2009