10 Tips from Elegant Roots When Choosing "Recycled"

1. Choose truly "recycled" ~ Truly "recycled" (like for silver) means: extracted from some component and melted down to something new. That can use a lot of energy, but it's clearly better than mining new silver. Some great jewelry designers work exclusively in recycled precious metals. Check out the Avenue Green Colection from C5 company.

2. Choose reclaimed ~ Other practices get tossed under the word "recycling." Laura Bergman of Bottled Up Designs forages for broken antique glass pieces from the woodlands of Pennsylvania's Amish Country, cuts them and mounts them into astounding jewelry pieces. That's reclaimed or repurposed. Laura designs her peices to avoid use of solder, another way to lighten the footprint of Bottled Up Designs. Reclaimed and repurposed use only a bit of energy, and Bottled Up is also cleaning up the woodlands habitat. By contrast, true recycling of glass would entail melting it to start anew. That's energy intensive but still prevents waste. Try Bottled Up Designs reclaimed jewelry -- the colors of antique glass are astounding.

3. Choose precycled ~ Melissa Kolbusz of [wired] designs salvages obsolete but unused industrial material to create her edgy jewelry. That's precycled, and it uses no additional energy. Melissa also makes knock-out jewelry from repurposed Effen Vodka bottle labels. You've got to see [wired] designs.

4. Don't choose collectible ~ A collectible item, (antique subway tokens?), are not otherwise going to the landfill - they're valuable.

5. Don't choose phony "recycled" ~ African weavers made baskets from reclaimed telephone wire. It was so popular they ran out of reclaimed wire. They began buying new wire. Everybody's got to make a living, but those baskets are not "recycled."

6. Choose recyclable ~ When you're finished with it, can it be reused, repurposed or recycled?

7. Don't buy junk ~ Don't buy something that's throw-away junk, even if it's made from recycled materials. Encourage producers to design products that stand the test of time.

8. Know the social impact ~ Would you buy a recycled product if you knew the workers were sweat-shop exploited?

9. Buy less but buy better ~ Sometimes quality recycled products cost a bit more. Get used to buying fewer things, while buying things that are meaningful in their environmental and social impact.

10. Demand information ~ ElegantRoots.com supports the transparency movement. We want you to have the info that allows you to make an informed choice - to align your purchases with your values. That why we provide "our four Ws": Who made it, Where, of What, and Why, beyond its beauty and function, it would be a worthy choice.

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