At my internship this past summer, one of the many important things I learned was taking out of style pieces of jewelry and turning them into new, exciting pieces. One of my daily tasks at the internship was to take damaged pieces and salvage the reusable parts such as beads, clasps, and pieces of shell. This inspired my design concept using the Cradle to Cradle technical metabolism.
The Textiles 4 Textiles video discusses how Patagonia offers apparel recycling at their stores. What we do not see is jewelry recycling. Many components of jewelry are perfectly reusable and are thrown away only because the user is tired of the “look” of the piece. If stores were to offer a recycling program, these pieces could be sent to a manufacturer to be turned into something new.
The Cradle to Cradle concept means that products are created so that their life can be extended into the creation of another product of equal or greater value. There are two types: technical and biological. The technical metabolism inspired my concept because I believe we have a larger problem with technical waste. Too many perfectly viable materials are going to waste and polluting the environment. When I recall my internship, I remember toxic materials being thrown away by careless people. According to the Waste Equals Food chapter of Cradle to Cradle, technical metabolism is when a product is designed to go back into the technical cycle because it cannot be used by the biological environment. According to the Rhoener Textiles video, this is considered a product or service concept. The product is always creating a service. With the use of the recycling program, manufacturers can cut down on waste and turn perfectly viable materials into new pieces.
Hi, Kelsey;
ReplyDeleteI used to have a jewelry trunk show business and recently spent a few weeks taking apart a lot of my old inventory and reinventing it. I think this is a great idea. I reuse nearly everything from original piece to the next one. Is there a particular type of customer you see taking advantage of this concept? Types of jewelry? Pricing scheme?
Dr. Armstrong,
DeleteI see college students taking advantage of this concept because they like to stay on trend and will want new pieces. Also, many college students are becoming more environmentally aware so they will want to participate in a program like this. As for types of jewelry, I think this will work better with bracelets and necklaces since the components are easier to take apart. Though, I do see earring hooks being reusable. As for pricing, it will depend on the components of the piece.
I really like this idea! I am awful when it comes to jewelry. I always end up losing one earring or I end up breaking necklaces or bracelets. Even if the jewelry wasn't from the same manufacture would customers be able to send their jewelry in to have something different made? Or you could always ask people to sell their unused jewelry and you could convert it into something different.
ReplyDeleteOlivia,
DeleteI really like your idea of customers from different manufacturers having access to this. I think that it would be acceptable and would enable the C2C process to extend.
Kelsey,
ReplyDeleteI am really glad that your concept is part of what you did in your internship. My husband is actually a jewelry major in the art department and last year I was waiting around in the jewelry lab for him to finish up with his project and I started rummaging around in the scrap metal drawers looking for cool shapes already cut and found 2 similar circle shapes and I turned them into earrings. How would customers find out about where to send their jewelry to?
Hi Kelsey, I like that you were able to take what you learned from your summer internship and develop a creative technique metabolism idea from it. I agree that creating this take-back program for multiple manufacturers would encourage customers to bring back old jewelry since there would be no hassle. I wonder if the energy used to melt down material such as metal forms another environmental cost or not? Just a thought.
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