I am constantly seeking greener alternatives as my studio grows; I primarily used bamboo, stainless steel, and recycled fine silver in my jewelry. Bamboo is a sustainable plant and its natural color lends well to my work. Stainless steel is 100% recyclable. The recycled fine silver is by far my favorite medium and comes from disposed photograph development solution.
What about packaging? Well, I use reusable tins for my smaller pieces, and recycled paper boxes or linen boxes for my larger pieces. Linen comes from the flax plant and takes very little chemical fertilizer and MUCH less water than cotton to cultivate; once the fiber has been extracted from the plant, the rest of the plant is used to make other goods such as soap, cosmetics, inks, etc. Nothing goes to waste.
What about chemicals? I steer away from using chemicals as much as possible. For example, I love adding patinas to my silver work, but instead of using a chemical called Liver of Sulfur, I use a boiled egg. It’s less stinky and less toxic.
What about my printed materials? I use a green printer for all of my promotional materials – my business cards, my rack cards, etc. My printer is FSC approved (they use sustainable forestry resources), uses chlorine free paper, is part of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, and is a waterless printer. I also use this company to produce all of my printed graphic design requests.
So yes, I am definitely green!