Some Scrap to be Recycled
Recycled Silver is in high demand these days. Did you know that 60% of the silver used in all of our handmade Bali sterling silver styles is recycled from production scraps? We never publicized this fact in the past because it seemed obvious to us that every bit of valuable silver would be melted and re-used. However, I have recently seen companies advertise this practice as proof of their Eco-friendly, Green Business practices and I wanted everyone to know that we do it too! We also recycle all the rejects and scraps that accumulate in our California office.
Before we printed our recent insert, I did a great deal of research into recycled paper. It turned out to be a slippery slope! There is recycled paper made from paper mill floor scraps (I still don’t know how I feel about that. Did they really just throw it away before or did they always use it?) and recycled paper made from post consumer waste. The latter is about twice the price of regular paper stock. In addition, recycling post-consumer paper is very resource intensive, using lots of energy and water. Some people feel that using paper from sustainably managed forests is a wiser choice.
Instead of using the recycled paper, I decided to set a “greening” budget for 2010 and try to figure out where that money will have the greatest impact on the environment. It may be best spent on recycled paper but we might get more bang for our buck somewhere else, like supporting water restoration projects in silver mining towns. I will keep you posted……
I’ve been collecting scraps from silver and gold wire that I use. I’ve been looking for a place where I could send it to be reused.. Do you accept scraps from jewellers, and if not, do you know of any places that do?
About paper, you might be interested in looking up a product called Axiar Green. It’s a paper saving software that’s marketed towards larger businesses to help them reduce the total amount of paper/toner usage. There’s also a user friendly calculator on the site that can help you see how much money and energy you’d be saving in a year. the site is http://www.papersavingsoftware.com thought I’d pass it along
Comment by Scher — December 8, 2009 @ 9:14 pm
If you want to recycle your silver scraps and you don’t have large quantities, Rio Grande is a great option. They will give you a 75% credit or 65% cash. The link above will connect you to the page on their site where you can order a scrap kit to send in your silver. I will check out the Axiar website. Thanks!
Comment by nina — December 11, 2009 @ 10:55 am
Thanks for the info! Will definitely check them out
Comment by Scher — December 19, 2009 @ 12:59 am