GREEN JEWELLERY INFO

Sustainable Jewellery ...?Posted by Daniela on April 27, 2010 at 2:10pm in Light and Breezy



"The most important characteristic of green jewellery today is ethical material sourcing, and all sourcing issues stem from one central issue: extraction.”

There are two ways to go about material sourcing.


1 Primary refining


First time metal extracted from the earth (this can be environmentallydevastating).

2 Secondary refining

Metal is sourced from an already existing product (recycling the metal).

This process uses less resources, chemicals, and energy.


One-fifth of silver used each year, worldwide goes into X-ray film. By buying your silver from a secondary refiner (Virgo Metals Durban - silver is extracted from X-rays) you drastically reduce your carbon footprint as a jeweller and artist.