I’ve spent a lot of time this month talking with you about Earth Day, and there are a lot of reasons for that. For one thing, I genuinely care about Earth Day and think that we should be taking climate change and other environmental challenges very seriously. I also genuinely think that people can make a difference by making small individual changes, while also working toward the larger changes in culture and industry that will make a bigger impact.
One of the most important things I can say about Earth Day, though, is that Earth Day is a celebration! Earth Day is a celebration of all the things the planet gives us, from beautiful vistas to the food on our plates.
The biggest reason I became a natural stone jewelry artisan was because of my love of nature, and because I can feel closer to nature by working with natural stones.
Creating my jewelry is a way to celebrate the natural world. Not just creating natural stone jewelry, but also sharing the beauty of those creations with other people so they can enjoy them whenever they want to.
Handmade Natural Stone Jewelry That Celebrates The Earth
If you’ve seen my other blog posts this month, you already know that I am planning a special one-day only Flash Sale for Earth Day this year. The Earth Day Deals will only be available on Earth Day, April 22nd, and the sale will only be active that day.
I want to highlight a few of the pieces included in that Flash Sale here and to talk about why this jewelry was included in the Earth Day Deals. Just a taste of the good things yet to come!
Garnets & Roses Post Earrings
My Garnets & Roses titanium post earrings are simple but elegant, and do a great job of capturing the natural beauty in a rose as well as the natural beauty of Garnet stones.
As botanical-inspired earrings, as well as natural stone earrings, I think that these are a great representation of all the things the Earth gives us every day.
As a simple celebration of beauty, it’s hard to choose a symbol more widely appreciated than a rose. So it just makes sense to include this beautiful set of handmade earrings in my sale.
Earth On A Chain Necklace
Azurite stones are some of the most classic stones to use as a symbol of our planet. Natural Azurite often forms in combination with Malachite, and the bright blues and greens of these stones look like a miniature Earth. With Malachite formations forming the continents and islands, and Azurite for oceans and lakes, the resemblance is clear!
I particularly love these stones for the visual reminder of the environment they represent. There are a lot of ways to remind yourself to take care of the planet. Wearing natural stone jewelry that looks like the planet just happens to be one of them.
My Earth On A Chain Necklace might have more than one globe, but there is only one Earth, so even the small actions we can take to protect the planet are important.
This Earth Day, I hope this necklace will be a reminder of the importance of taking action - however you can.
Holding Earth Dangling Earrings
Lastly, for this Collection highlight, I want to talk about my Holding Earth Sterling Silver dangling earrings.
These earrings again use Azurite for its close resemblance to the Earth as seen from space. But these earrings particularly remind me of the importance of protecting the Earth thanks to the delicate Sterling Silver wire wrapped around the stone.
While these earrings are perfectly secure, the illusion is that they are held in place by one delicate strand of silver - which is the perfect metaphor for the problems we’re dealing with today.
The planet is more delicate than it seems and needs us to act to protect it from our actions. For Earth Day, I hope we can hold the planet in our minds and actions, especially when it comes to making small changes to help protect the planet.
How I Work To Make Earth Song Jewelry Eco-Friendly
Sustainable business practices are at the core of the changes we can make to better support and protect our planet and existing ecosystems. I’m proud of the work I do to help make my handmade jewelry business more sustainable, not just in concept, but in actuality.
Here are some of the things I do to make Earth Song Jewelry, including ALL of my jewelry, not just the Earth Day Collection, more sustainable.
I Use Recycled Sterling Silver
I use two different types of Sterling Silver, 925 Sterling Silver and Argentium 935 Sterling Silver. Argentium Sterling Silver is always recycled. I also specifically seek out suppliers of recycled 925 Sterling Silver as well, so that all my Sterling Silver is recycled.
This is important to me for a couple of reasons. For one thing, elemental metals are incredibly recyclable. So, unlike some other materials that are difficult or impossible to recycle, these metals are highly recyclable and don’t lose quality or change properties in the process.
That means that recycled metals just make sense.
I also prefer recycled metal because metal extraction, often from mining, comes with a lot of problems, both environmental and humanitarian. Since there is plenty of silver available to recycle, recycled options are a lot more sustainable and avoid humanitarian concerns.
Sustainable Packaging And Shipping Materials
Packaging and shipping materials are often some of the least environmentally-friendly parts of a product, whether that product is clothing, jewelry, or even food.
Since a lot of my business is based around packaging and shipping jewelry to you, my customers, it’s important to me to use the most sustainable packaging materials I can.
That’s why I use 100% recycled cardboard shipping boxes, and 70% recycled jewelry gift boxes. The more of these materials are recycled, the more sustainable those products are, and the less we have to rely on newly harvested materials to meet our needs.
Right now, recycled materials are common, but not universal. By supporting businesses that use recycled packaging and shipping materials, you are also supporting the demand for those recycled products, which helps encourage industries to move toward recycling and create more recycling infrastructure so even more recycling is possible.
1% for the Planet Member and Climate Reality Leader
In addition to the steps I take to make sure the materials I use are sustainable and environmentally friendly, I also donate a portion of the sales from Earth Song Jewelry to foundations approved by 1% for the Planet, including CarbonFund.org and Conservation Colorado. In fact, I donate 10% of my sales to these climate-friendly initiatives, more than required.
On the action front, I was trained as a Climate Reality Leader by Al Gore back in 2013. My interest in protecting the planet isn’t new.
My hope is that, with Earth Song Jewelry as a whole, and especially with my Earth Day Flash Sale, I can help raise awareness and encourage action on behalf of the planet and our environment. And maybe, when you’re wearing my handmade natural stone jewelry, you’ll be inspired to do the same.
Happy Earth Day!
