What shade of green is your life?

So you want your life to be greener? You buy Fair Trade coffee, free range eggs and organic vegetables, you walk to work and vote Green Party but something is still missing. Have you ever wondered how life can be just as comfortable for you without causing discomfort to others or the environment? Well, these 10 steps could be just the thing for you...

At home

1. Energy supplier

There are numerous renewable energy sources and suppliers these days. The most popular types of renewable energy used in the UK are tidal and wind power. Solar power is also possible though works better in other countries and climates. It is estimated that on-shore wind turbines could produce up to 20% of UK power whilst off-shore wind farms could be producing up to 50% of UK power in the future.

The Renewable Energy Centre website contains information on all things renewable in the UK. You can source energy suppliers in your area, tips on how to save energy in your home and learn about different energy types. 

2. Home products

Everything that you could ever need in your house can be found on ethical sites such as Ethical Superstore. Here you can find home comforts, electrical appliances, fashion, food and energy saving gadgets. The site is regularly updated and allows you to shop in one place and earn Make A Difference (MAD) points while you do it. 

  

3. LED or energy saving light bulbs

Low energy devices and energy saving light bulbs can save you money on your energy bills. They also need changing less frequently as they last longer. An energy saving light bulb costs more in the shop but as it uses approximately a quarter of the power of a normal bulb and lasts up to 12 times longer they work out to be more economical in the long term.

Modern appliances these days come with a nationwide rating system which indicates how energy efficient an appliance is. It is also easy to save energy by washing at lower temperatures and with full loads, only boiling enough water for what you need, taking showers instead of baths and not leaving appliances in stand-by mode.

At work

4. Office supplies

Sites like Lovely as a Tree and Three Trees Don’t Make a Forest have many links to companies which can supply green office supplies and stationary but can also highlight your nearest environmentally friendly printers, supply information on the impact of offices and studios on the environment and gives honest opinions on issues such as whether a paper-free office is as great as it sounds.

5. Your computer

Something as simple as turning your computer monitor off when you go home can help. Printing less and using green print cartridges such as soya based inks is also good.

If you have your own website or are considering setting one up consider using a green web hosting company such as Super Green Hosting or see the Web Hosting Geeks information pages on numerous companies; there are loads out there!

6. Recycling Company waste

Green Your Office allows companies to buy some green office supplies whilst offering an eco-friendly cleaning service to companies. Unfortunately, this is currently only for companies based in London, Birmingham and Bristol but watch this space!

Also see Lovely as a Tree for where and how to recycle everything from computers to cartridges to mobile phones. For a more fashionable way of recycling materials in your office check out Worn Again to see how you could soon be wearing your office chairs.

When shopping

    7.   On the High street

H & M produce Fair Trade and Organic cotton items though in small amounts. Monsoon were involved with ethical fashion during London Fashion Week and ASOS have an entire section dedicated to ethical fashion items. However, for the ultimate in Ethical Fashion and all its related disciplines sign up to the Ethical Fashion Forum. 

   8.   Buy local

With supermarkets taking over the world the local shop is becoming a rarer sight on our streets. Now is the time to be supporting these local shops and you will see a reward; the produce is better, the staff care more about their consumers and have a greater knowledge of the products they sell.

   9.   Ask

If you are unsure of whether a product or company is ethical, ask. The only thing that is going to change companies to become more ethical is consumer power. The more people that are interested, the more likely a company is to change their products and procedures. Every person counts!

Your Money

   10.  At the Bank

The Cooperative Bank have an ethics policy to be commended. See their Ethics in Action section to learn about the campaigns they support, the businesses they have turned down for being less than ethical and learn more about their customer-led ethical policies.

Some people find being ethical is holistic; it can encapsulate your entire life. If this isn’t your take on all things green then that’s fine too. Every individual step towards a greener planet is positive so be proud.

Good luck greening up!

What is ethical jewellery and can it ever be 100% ethical?

You may have heard people say that to be truly ethical would mean not producing or wearing jewellery. Jewellery has adorned the body for millennia indicating social status, wealth or for beauty and this is not about to change now. Here at Opulent Ethics we are of the opinion that jewellery is staying put and the best thing we can do is to change consumer opinion so that those who purchase jewellery begin questioning where their products come from.

To be 100% ethical is very difficult and may even be near impossible at this time so the best piece of advice we here at Opulent Ethics can give is to choose your battles wisely. With our jewellery we began by sourcing UK recycled silver from a responsible source, Cred, whilst trying to keep our carbon footprint as small as possible by using UK gem stones. By using Western sources for metals and gems stones you are able to ensure they are fairly mined.

The ethical jewellery produced by Opulent Ethics uses materials which are obtained from sources that impact as little as possible on the environment and local communities. Examples of our ethical choices include ensuring gems are not from countries where money from their sale funds war or conflict and silver is acquired from a company which recycles industry and left over jewellery silver. In the future, where Opulent Ethics decides to use gold this will be Fair Trade and acquired from family run small-scale mines which use alluvial mining techniques such as panning rather than large open pit mines which obtain their gold using chemical techniques. For information on the impact of mining see the No Dirty Gold website.

Sustainable materials such as wool, woods or seeds are another possibility. Opulent Ethics are hoping to be working with vegetable ivory this year and will keep you up to date on all we find out.

It has become evident recently that artisanal techniques such as filigree are making a comeback in jewellery. Craftsmanship is now very important in design and consumers want to see evidence of these hand skills in their purchases. This is a positive for ethical jewellers such as Leblas who have been trying to resurrect traditional Spanish filigree skills in recent years.

Leblas’ De Blas Tanzanite Ring

Leblas’ collections are produced by filigree artisans in Spanish workshops whose skills have been passed down through centuries of perfected craftsmanship. They also ensure that their pieces are produced using sustainable practices, using materials and running their business in a socially, environmentally and culturally responsible way.

Overall, ethical jewellery should be based on fair trade principles. By this we mean that all involved in the supply chain should be paid a fair wage and they and their environment should not be exploited. You can go as far as ensuring that chemicals used in your studio are less harmful and are disposed of responsibly.

Here at Opulent Ethics we have made our choices as to how we can be as ethical as possible within the limits of today’s jewellery trade. Sadly, these limits mean that it is currently not always possible for our jewellery to be 100% ethical but we are constantly working towards moving nearer to this goal and we hope that one day soon it will be possible. Because of this we feel that transparency is very important as we do not want to mislead our consumers. We are open and honest about all the materials and techniques we have used whilst producing and manufacturing our products and we hope that this gives possible consumers the confidence they need to believe in our products.

That’s all for now…. 

How ethical was IJL 2010?

Having recently visited International Jewellery London (IJL) in early September we at Opulent Ethics were astonished by the number of complimentary seminars which focused on ethical issues within the jewellery trade. IJL say they are dedicated to promoting and investing in current issues which affect the industry but we were impressed that 5 of the 48 seminars, nearly 10%, were related to ethical jewellery.

Three of the seminars made up the crowning glory of the seminar programme; The Great Debate. Sadly, we were only able to attend the final seminar in the series; Ethical Jewellery – from ideal to reality, which brought together David Hargreaves from Fairtrade Gemstones, Jonathan Lambert from Ethically Precious and Ute Decker from Ute Decker Sculptural Jewellery. Whilst the debate started slowly the topics soon being covered included; sourcing issues, traceability, whether ethical jewellery can be a viable business plan and the best way to convey ethical intentions.    

Throughout the debate David Hargreaves, who has worked with mining companies for years stressed that mining is now integral to modern society and will not end. We should, therefore, be moving towards mining with care. His company, Fairtrade Gemstones has 100% traceability from source mines to retail and is able to offer for sale most stones. David Hargreaves also believes that the City view ethics in a purely financial way and that if ethical jewellery is to become a viable business it will be necessary for ethical brands to offer their products at an equal price point to non-ethical brands.

Jonathan Lambert spoke about changing consumer opinion by bringing ethical jewellery to the high street which he is doing with his Chaos collection. He also believes that you must have confidence in your products to be able to help spread the word about ethics.

Ute Decker responded to questions regarding how to get the ethical message across. Ute Decker feels that conversation is the way forward. She always wears pieces of her sculptural jewellery and uses them to spark interest and conversation, without which, non-ethically conscious people will not become aware of the issues.

Overall, The Great Debate and IJL are valuable tools for ensuring ethics becomes more widespread within the trade but there are still problems. Certification and standardization is required throughout the ethical supply chain. One of the companies which should be at the front of this is the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) who chaired The Great Debate. After questions regarding their intentions, the RJC were forced to admit that, despite having 250 members, and aiming to make their mandate industry-wide, they are yet to audit any of their members and this may take up to 2 years to complete. Still a long way to go!

Other seminars attended by Opulent Ethics included The Impact of Green Issues On-line. This was given by Michelle Tuck the Creative Director of Avasarah an ethical jewellery company and e-tailer. Whilst most of this seminar covered well trodden ground she did bring one new issue to our attention. Whilst speaking about how social media is the new way to call for change she also explained that by using these sites we open our brands up to being owned as much by our consumers as by ourselves due to freedom of speech. This is definitely something we at Opulent Ethics will be thinking about in the future.

Finally we attended Ute Decker’s Ethical Jewellery – how business and designers can become more ethical in their trading and production. Of all the seminars we attended this was by far the most useful and most well attended. Ute Decker spoke openly and frankly about the pitfalls of making ethical jewellery and her reasons for choosing to do so. The practical information she supplied was as relevant and helpful to those who are starting out or trying to become more ethical as it was to those who are already working ethically. Topics covered included suppliers of materials, office supplies, hosting sites and energy suppliers. For all this information and more visit the ethical jewellery resources section of Ute Decker's website. She also spoke at length about Fair Trade gold and its future developments but we will talk about this in another post though as we think this is enough for our first outing!

Bye for now....