Protecting the planet

I am trying to avoid harm to the environment in my work, in what I use and what I discard.

“Reuse reduce recycle”

I hardly throw anything away! 

I have a reuse, repurpose and recycle mentality ingrained and it suits my design philosophy. 

“Cut your coat according to your cloth” 

I do cut my materials carefully and like to use up every piece whether it’s a cheap or expensive material. This quite often influences my design. I think of the source and size of material and those practicalities are considered when I start to design.

When I was young we bought things that were made to last, amd we often made things  whether it was clothing, food, tools or mechanical things. It made perfect sense, you make what you need, and use whats available and share anything that you have surplus of. 

“Waste not want not” 

I keep a lot of things just incase, to use again or repurpose. I possible keep too much!

e.g. I keep the dust from silver and gold and remelt to use again.

I like natural raw materials, and try to prevent any detrimental impact on the planet when sourcing materials. 

I try to use companies that are committed to selling conflict-free and ethically sourced gems and diamonds and use metals that have been recycled. 

My suppliers of metals -silver, gold,  iron, steel, copper and brass are stocked by legitimate sources not involved in the funding of conflict in compliance with United Nations Resolutions and corresponding UK law.

I use cardboard boxes for presenting my jewellery which can be recycled, and as for the boxes that are plastic – my customers tell me they use them all the time for protecting their jewellery and so this is not a single use product but a cherished keepsake box. I will be keeping my eye out for another elegant design for a completely plastic-free cardboard keepsake box in the future. There is always room for improvement.

I try to use paper padded envelopes or reuse old jiffy-bags, and use paper tape when packaging items sold online. 

I hope this makes my customers happy to know. If anyone doesn’t want any packaging please let me know, or if you would like to return your packaging, please do bring them into the shop and I will reuse them.

Thank you and best wishes

Ann Catrin