Maybe you haven’t given it a second thought, maybe you have an idea… 

• According to The World Gold Council, “…around 190,040 tonnes of gold has been mined throughout history…”
• New metal is still being mined but development of technology means that we are now able to recycle precious metals and maintain quality. 
• Much of the jewellery made in the UK is now made from recycled silver and gold. Like the collection pieces created by me at Cast & Found. 

Keeping metal in circulation, by reinventing and re-purposing it is our social responsibility. Human beings extracted this treasure from the earth, now we have a responsibility to use it to its full capacity. 

As an ethical brand we proudly use recycled metal, this choice means there is a little less demand for new metal to be extracted from the earth.

Furthermore a good manufacturing company will ensure that the recycled metal used is refined to a good standard, for example all the metal Cast & Found use is of hallmarking standard. 

Companies need to promote, practice and encourage the use of recycled metal.

Pandora launched its first small sustainable collection in August 2019. With pieces  made in Eco-factories in Thailand using 100% recycled gold.

So this is just starting to happen.

Recycled silver and gold reduces the drain of the earth’s natural resources and often keeps costs from spiraling. For an independent brand such as Cast & Found who doesn’t have the purchasing power of big businesses, this is important too. 

In my brands bespoke commission work customers are given the opportunity to select the metal used to make their jewellery.

Select from refined recycled gold, your own used gold or you can even opt to use fully traceable metal. I will be exploring Fair Trade and Fair Mined metal, which are two ways in which full traceability of metal is now being offered, in future blogs.

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For Cast & Found it is a key priority to have our ethics clearly outlined on our website.  In choosing to shop with independent smaller businesses you are more likely to find an answer when asking any questions about the sourcing of materials and suppliers.

We are constantly striving to support our customers in reassuring them that their purchases are from an ethically minded businesses.  We welcome any questions you may have.

Written by Jessica Collin, ethical jewellery designer and owner of Cast & Found.