Here at A Silver Circle, we are extremely conscious of the impact that our business has on the environment. Even though we are not perfect, we’d like to share with you some everyday things we do in the studio to reduce our impact. We believe a thousand people doing an imperfect job is better than one person doing it alone.
Materials
Not many people are aware of the lack of sustainability around silver jewellery products. Like the mining of any other metal, silver mining is having a destructive impact on our environment through greenhouse gas emission; not to mention the large amount of metals being thrown away each year through old mobile phones. We are working hard to combat this waste of precious resources to create more sustainable jewellery through every step of our creative process.
We start by using recycled sterling silver for ALL of our pieces. Unused silver is melted down and remade into wire or sheet metal that can then used to construct new forms and designs. Any offcuts from our new designs are again recycled by being melted down again to be reused. So there is virtually no wastage of this beautiful precious material.
Additional materials used are recycled where can. Branch pieces found on nature walks are the material used in the Branch Collection giving a connection to the local areas in and around Sydney as well as some interstate adventures.
Resin is unfortunately not a sustainable material which is therefore why we have decided not continue to make new pieces in this collection. We are ready to flex our design muscles and create some new pieces instead. Keep and eye out for whats next.
Studio Practices
In the studio we are all about reduce, reuse and recycle.
Reduce: We have been taking steps to reduce the amount of plastic and other materials that come in to the studio as much as possible through buying bulk and plastic free foods, asking suppliers for less packaging and picking up things instead of shipping. All little steps that make a big impact in the long run.
Reuse: We reuse everything we can! Firstly within the studio. A lot of our materials still come in plastic sealed bags that we reuse for holding our stock to prevent any tarnish. These are also reused when Corinne is teaching for her students work. Boxes are reused to ship new orders
Recycling: The bags mentioned above are reused over and over until they are no longer useful and they get recycled in our Redcycle bin in the studio and dropped off to our local supermarket for recycling.
Composting: Our studio is in an industrial area so there is no outdoor space for us to use as a lovely worm farm, however we have an Urban Composter which means we can compost all of our food scraps in the studio and drop it off to a local larger compost (find some in your local area through Sharewaste) to then be broken down fully and reused.
Composting is such a simple and rewarding process that we care a lot about as it keeps as much as 30% of waste from going into the bin. If you ever stumble into our workshop, you’ll probably notice the incredible amounts of tea consumed on a daily basis. That’s why we strive to use loose leaf teas and faze out all use of tea bags. Although these are small decisions, they are also important ones.
One Tree Planted
We are taking the initiative to give back to the planet by planting one tree for every sale made in person or online. We are inspired by One Tree Planted: an initiative that is planting trees in areas of deforestation around the globe to combat this increasingly severe problem.
We look forward to being able to contribute to helping our environment recover from years of damage and hope you are eager to get on board too! If you want to further support this cause, you can check our their website here: https://onetreeplanted.org
Shipping
Setting goals to reduce our carbon footprint is critical for us to become the business we have always aspired to be! Being environmentally conscious though our shipping of orders is very important to us and something we are continually striving to do better in.
All of our regular post orders use compostable bags or cardboard boxes as they are easily reused or recycled. Some boxes or packing material are recycled from other deliveries we have received. All our jewellery and other accessories are stored in previously used boxes to ensure we get the most use out of them as possible. We are continually working on a means of express post/PO Box orders plastic free, so bear with us in the meantime!
Packaging: Our boxes, paper bags and carry bags are all cardboard so that they can be recycled or composted (ripped up into small pieces). They do however have a foam insert which are not currently recyclable but we are looking into a better alternative. This is where we would love to hear from you! If you have any great ideas please let us know as we are always welcoming suggestions to make our business more environmentally conscious everyday.
We are doing everything we can to work towards being completely zero-waste and we hope others will follow our lead. By shopping with us, you can be sure your purchases are sustainable and are in fact having a positive impact on the environment.
We would love to hear from you! What sustainable brands do you love? Do you have any tips on achieving more everyday sustainability? Please get in touch with us through email, Facebook or Instagram.
