On Friday, I was having a spirited conversation with a student about sustainability. I called her naive when she talked about her faith in the circular economy. As designers and business owners we make decisions everyday. While we might have Earth’s best interest’s at heart, we often have to incorporate the requirements of clients and think of profits as well. But she did not give up. She passionately explained how brands can incorporate ideas to become sustainable. It left a mark on me to, enough to share about my Responsible repurposing in Riti Jewellery.
In my personal opinion, sustainability in its purest form is a myth. It is possible only we if live on our own land, cultivate our crops, raise our own animals, make everything from scratch, reduce consumption and reuse as much as possible. Baring this ideal scenario, true sustainability is highly improbable today. We might talk about slow fashion all we want. However, in a consumer economy, producers do not want consumers to reduce buying or reuse what they have. Consumers must buy continuously for the economy to flourish. The only plan of action for the producer is to responsibly repurpose and reuse.
Responsible Re-purposing
In most of my Riti jewellery posts, I received comments from people, where there wondered how I made my pieces. Here is the secret – Responsible Repurposing. When I started to make this collection, I knew that I wanted to include an aspect of sustainability in it. Everybody has a different understanding of sustainability. Mine is based on the three R’s – Reduce, Reuse and recycle. When I started Sayuri in 2008, this was the major differentiating factor of my business. But somewhere along the way practical took precedence over the ideal. With Riti I wanted to bring it back as this small range of exclusive products was my 10th Anniversary collection.
Of Spring and Flowers and Summer greens
In my last Riti post I spoke about interpreting depression and Feeling blue. I vouched for happy pieces that would follow in the next post. Here they are – Of spring and flowers and Summer green. The first necklace (that you see above) is inspired by a patch of happy spring flowers. The second (that you see below) is inspired by a grassy patch beneath dewy blue skies. When I try to visualise both these scenes, I imagine myself running towards them with my arms spread out. I run my hands softly over the grass and the flowers and take a deep breath to take in the fresh air. This is what happiness feels like to me.
Both the pieces come with earrings; in orange for the first necklace and in green for the second. Both are available for sale. Please email or send a message on my social media channels to buy. Scroll down to see the other pieces available for sale.
Responsible Repurposing in Riti Jewellery
Coming back to Responsible Repurposing, I have primarily used recycled glass beads made in India in this collection. Most of the beads and components are bought from local vendors, gypsies and home businesses. In addition, I have also used some destash beads and vintage finds. They have all been thoroughly sanitised and lovingly put together. I also hand stitched the fabric beads using scrap fabric, ribbons, and other end bits. Thus you can find beads of all shapes and sizes – those that you do not commonly find in the market these days. This makes the collection truly OOAK – One of a kind.
Riti is not 100% sustainable collection. There are plastic beads in it (some vintage, some not) and lots of metal components as well. I am aiming for the practical not ideal here.
Mixed media Pendants
The pendants are rescues of my own experiments. Those who work with resin know about the wastage that happens. There will be pieces in every lot that do not make the cut. Resin artists end up throwing them away. I do not subscribe to this method. As far as possible, I rescue my bezels from ending up in the landfill. I scrub, clean and store them. In Riti, I have tried to give them a new life using a range of mixed media techniques. There is a lot of layering of pigments, sealants and bases. Glitter was added to not just make them shine but also make them textural.
Apart from the two pieces that I have shown you at the beginning of the post, the six above are available as well. Please do email or message me to buy. They are a good bet, if you are looking are looking for responsibly produced jewellery.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my process. Do tell me what you feel about sustainability in jewellery and the approaches that you follow in your work. I look forward to hearing and learning from you.
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