Are the new jewellery trends sustainable?

It's summer 2021; by now almost everyone has seen the new jewellery trends speculating around social media, most commonly popular with Gen-Z. These new trends consist of colourful and fun plastic rings, earrings, necklaces, and more.

Many small businesses have started making these pieces due to their popularity and small investment. Hand making jewellery from things such as plastic, polymer clay, beads, and resin is one of the most affordable ways of getting stock, therefore, extremely popular among many jewellery businesses at the moment.

But now, let's talk about the negatives....

Cute but unsustainable...

Seeing our favourite internet celebrities wearing cool and trendy new items is often the reason we quickly press buy without second thoughts. However, trends don't last very long; in fact, most don't make it past a couple of months. Fashionable often implies mass produced, and mass production of things like plastic jewellery only means one thing....

They will end up in landfills as soon as trends die.

This also applies to the fast fashion clothing industry.

It's no lie that the internet celebrities promoting these trends are doing it because they either got paid to do so, or have been gifted the items for tree. Although, these new jewellery trends are cute, but they won't be around in a few months time, so buying into trends is usually not a great idea. It's always better to invest in a timeless design; you'll get the longest wear out of it as possible and become more sustainable.

Is metal better than plastic?

Yes! Stainless steel is one of the most durable and accessible materials out there, and the material most commonly used in our jewellery. However, that's not the best part about it! Stainless steel is 100% recyclable, making it one of the best materials to work with! When it is produced, stainless steel has an infinite life cycle, and may reach the end of its life in a specific product or even building. However, stainless steel can also be fully recovered and reused, making it easy to retrieve in the recycling process due to its magnetic properties.

So why aren't we selling plastic jewellery?

As a brand, we are trying our best to stay out of unsustainable trends, limiting the production of plastic as much as possible. Therefore, we are not selling the cute vibrant rings that you have been seeing everywhere, and we are not sorry....

Rather than thinking of the low investment costs, brands need to be thinking of the long term consequences they are contributing to. In this day of age, we must all be looking for ways to benefit our environment instead of harming it.

Are you making a change by not buying into these trends ?