Earth-Friendlier Jewelry

Recently I participated in a discussion conducted for The New York Times about jewelry. The conversation inspired me to post a lil’ roundup of some Earth-friendlier brands and styles for folks who are interested in gifting greener jewelry this holiday season.

CLED
I discovered CLED via Ashlee Piper, the author of Give a Sh*t: Do Good, Live Better, Save the Planet. In forming their brand, CLED aimed to leverage high-quality existing materials to create upcycled and beautiful pieces. Their pieces are hand-formed from recycled glass (a natural material mainly composed of sand). This renewable resource can be recycled endlessly, and can be made without causing harm to animals or the environment. CLED’s pieces arrive in their minimal and elegant circular box, which is made from post consumer contents.

BAYOU WITH LOVE
On recent occasions, I’ve been able to chat with the delightful Nikki Reed about her recycled jewelry brand, Bayou With Love. This small company uses recycled gold, mainly sourced from used technology recovered and responsibly extracted from tech recycling programs. (Only 12.5% of electronics are responsibly recycled globally, and in phones alone Americans throw away more than $60 million in gold and/or silver every year.) Most of the pieces are out of my spending zone, but I do have and very much like this recycled brass scarf ring. (I pair it regularly with my scarves from Late Sunday Afternoon— for every scarf they sell, they create and gift a handmade blanket to children in the foster system in Los Angeles.)

ASCOTS FROM LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON
Ascots can be worn in a myriad of ways— around your neck, on your wrist, in your hair, on your bag/pack/basket, and around the brim of your hat. And while they’re clearly not jewelry, they can be styled as such, which is particularly nice when you have a small child or baby who likes to tug on and taste everything. Our friends at Late Sunday Afternoon use locally sourced deadstock fabrics to create their ascots in-house. Any scraps are used to stuff handmade dog beds that they then donate to animal shelters. 

VINTAGE PIECES 
What’s better than working with what we already have, rather than creating something entirely new? Vintage pieces, or jewelry that’s hand-crafted with vintage elements, can be such striking one-of-a-kind finds that we can feel good about wearing. For example, Rack and Ruin does a beautiful job of incorporating old components into their modern designs. One of my favorite pieces is this handmade bracelet, which is set with a vintage coin.

SCULPTURAL WOODEN WORKS
I am drawn to wooden jewelry, such as the handmade works of Sophie Monet (who I first discovered via my friends at Midland). Sophie’s pieces are works of art that can withstand the strong grip of my son, and not get trapped in the wild nest of my hair.

SEEDS, LEAVES, FLOWERS, SEA GLASS, SHELLS
I have a handmade, eco-friendly tin necklace pendant that contains a piece of dandelion and a magnifying glass, and 2 bracelets that showcase real dried and pressed greenery. I acquired all of these not only due to their appearance, but also for my son. When we are out and about together and he starts to get impatient with whatever we’re doing, these designs keep him occupied for a few minutes more, and are durable and safe in his lil’ hands. I also have some sea glass pieces from the beachcombers at Sea & Glass, as well as a shell pendant that my mother found at an arts festival in Gainesville, Florida.

HANDMADE & HEIRLOOM
These are the three rings I wear daily— my wedding band (which was my grandmother’s), my engagement ring (which was Adam’s grandmother’s), and a handmade ring by Indra West bearing the name of my son. My favorite source for such pieces (if they’re not handed down directly) is Etsy.

Note: Select photos above were taken at/for Midland by Ashley Randall earlier this year as part of a contributor blog post.