Fairtrade and recycling

Recycled material for over 30 years

Sustainable jewelry production

I have always believed that we can enjoy jewelry without damaging or excessively polluting our environment. For this reason, my jewelry is produced fairly and sustainably from recycled and fairly traded materials. And this has been the case for over 30 years.

Goldschmiede Mansholt is an officially registered Fairtrade goldsmith partner of FAIRTRADE GERMANY

Fairtrade vs. recycled material - a brief comparison

In short, Fairtrade means that the workers in the gold mines are paid slightly better. Unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding HOW the gold is won have not changed much according to the procedure. Chemicals are still used in the mines to make the yield as profitable as possible.
Exceptions here are hand-washed river gold from an ecological point of view. However, the world market share of this gold is negligible.
Recycled material, on the other hand, is already on the market and can be easily integrated back into the cycle. No mountain needs to be removed and no river needs to be polluted. Even problematic materials such as palladium can be processed in an environmentally friendly way using modern processes and filter systems in refineries.

If the framework conditions regarding environmental protection and conflict-free procurement can be positively guaranteed, I prefer recycled material.

Vegan jewelry making

Goldsmiths have traditionally worked with animal products to an astonishing extent for centuries:

• Horn for drinking vessels
• Leather for bracelets, cords and the board skin
• Mother of pearl for glasses frames and combs
• Tortoise shell from turtle shells for glasses and combs
• Shellac the lacquer scale insect
• Bone leg for buttons and furniture fittings
• Rabbit feet for fire gilding
• Deer teeth (the hunters' grandel ornament)
• Coral branches for necklaces and rings
• Glue made from fish scales
• Silk from the silkworm for pearl cords
• Mink fur for (costume jewelry) brooches
• Ivory from elephant, walrus, mammoth, etc. for bead balls and carvings and of course beads, beads, beads.

These materials are not only of animal origin, but are often obtained under non-ecological conditions.

It's better and better late than never: Since January 2022, I have been refraining from using animal ingredients when making new pieces of jewelry in my goldsmith. The existing stocks of goods, materials and working materials will be processed and processed during a transitional period and gradually replaced by materials of non-animal origin (and no, unfortunately it is not sustainable at all if you choose cultured pearls instead of natural pearls. When pearls are collected on mussel farms, for example in the atolls of French Polynesia, the mussels are killed when the pearls are harvested and then simply thrown away).

On the subject of plastic: Without a doubt, everyone will confirm that plastics are incredibly helpful in everyday (work) life. At first glance they seem difficult to replace, but what's too much is too much. I have decided to stop using plastic in packaging.
Apart from sampling for external customers, my goldsmith could function as a closed system without any deliveries containing packaging waste. Only the delivery routes of external suppliers for recycling and tool deliveries offer options for plastic packaging and I am working on making these plastic-free too. Until then, existing packaging and filling material will be recycled and gradually replaced with plastic-free alternatives.