Last week we dove into some of the jewelry industry’s most harmful impacts on the world, and as promised, I am here to offer alternative and more sustainable options!
Today I want to highlight the company that inspired me to first pose the question of “what makes the jewelry industry un-sustainable?” This company first caught my attention because its founder is by far one of my biggest inspirations. Her passion for sustainability and healthy living as a whole has allowed me to grow throughout this year as I also continue my sustainability journey. Not to mention, twice this year, I had the honor of attending a Zoom call where she spoke about life, art, travel, and more. Who is she? Nikki Reed.
Nikki founded her company BaYou with Love in 2017. I first heard about it last year and have been obsessed ever since! Her pieces are timeless, elegant, and not to mention, sustainably/consciously produced and sourced. So, let’s take a look at the specifics and what makes her company so great.
To start, the brand’s central points revolve around:
- Sustainable production
- Conscious sourcing
- Supporting local artisans
In addition, the company uses recycled gold and before moving further, I want you to try and remember the two really important facts we learned last week about gold and its impact…
- 20 tons of waste are produced for every ounce of gold
- An average large-scale gold mine uses 1,900 tons of cyanide annually
Do you see why using recycled gold is so crucial?! Speaking of recycled materials… BaYou with Love has a unique partnership with Dell where they recover gold from discarded technology and turn it into jewelry. It all started when Dell approached Nikki with the idea of wanting to make beautiful things from e-waste.
BaYou with Love and Dell Partnership Highlights:
- Dell gadgets contain so many valuable resources that can be recycled and upcycled
- Dell and their partners have a process for extracting gold from old computer motherboards that is 99% more environmentally friendly than extracting gold from the earth
- Ethical benefits by avoiding the harsh labor conditions where gold is so often mined.
“One industry’s “trash” can be another’s treasure…” -Bayou with Love
Want to find out more about Dell’s recycling program? Check it out here! Recycled materials | Dell Technologies US
But wait… BaYou with Love doesn’t stop at just jewelry. In fact, they dive into other areas including apparel, home, and beauty. Although, I will have to say, besides the jewelry, my favorite aspect of this company (that was just released this year) would have to be NR Moments | Life Through Her Lense. This new addition consists of tree-free prints of Nikki’s photography.
All my life I have always had a passion for art. Growing up, art class was one of my favorite subjects. It typically consisted of drawing, painting, and a little bit of ceramics. When I got to high school there was a shift in the curriculum and I picked up my first ever (what I would consider to be) professional camera. Not the camera embedded in my phone, but an actual camera with a lens that physically zoomed in and out and had more special settings than I could count. I enjoyed it, I told myself I wanted to own a camera like that one day, and then I never gave the idea much thought again. I fell back into the habit of just using my phone to snap pictures whenever because of its convenience. That is until I attended those Zoom calls with Nikki this year. She introduced this whole new perspective of what photography is and why she prefers to only use a real camera, separate from the phone. Nikki explained that she bought her first really nice camera when she was pregnant. She didn’t want her daughter to grow up with a phone in her face constantly. She believed there should be a separation between the purpose of the phone and the camera. I had never heard this perspective before, but when I tell you it changed my life, I’m not kidding… I reflected on how that idea applied in my life. I may not be a mother, but I am an aunt. So, a few months later, I got my first ever camera. Let me tell you, it has been metamorphic. I mean, when you think about using your phone for so many different functions, it is inevitable we will get distracted (I know I do). What was supposed to only be a one minute task, turns into a half hour of scrolling through social media. The last thing I will say on this topic is this: it is still important to live moments for ourselves, presently, and while not looking through a lens. This came up in one of the calls. Someone was wondering how as a mother Nikki balanced capturing pictures, but also being present in that very moment. She explained that she feels this battle just as much as we do. What she personally has found is that she sets a small time window for things. She’ll tell herself she gets five minutes to capture some moments through the lens, but then for the rest of the time, she will experience the moments through her eyes, with no technological distractions whether it be a phone or camera.
I have now bought two of Nikki’s sustainable prints. One was a gift for my mom, and the other was a gift to myself. She captures such beautiful pictures that have such deep meanings. The print I bought for myself this fall perfectly depicts the type of year I’ve had. Most of my year was spent recovering from my back surgery back in October 2020. I never thought I would be back to the girl I was before the surgery, but here I am! The photograph has a lot of darkness which is very representative of my long and hard recovery, but off in the distance, there’s a break in the clouds, and blue skies prevail. Recovery eventually got easier, and the gray clouds eventually disappeared. I bought this photograph to remind me that whenever times get hard, blues skies are coming, but sometimes you just might have to wait out the storms to see them.
Now, I know the idea of today’s post was supposed to be a sustainable jewelry company, and although I did give that to you, I felt I needed to go deeper. To me, what makes this company so special is not only its mission, but also, its founder, her advice and her views on life. Part of supporting sustainable businesses is knowing exactly where your items are coming from. I don’t know about you, but I’m more likely to buy from a place that is run by someone who is down-to-earth and genuine.
Want to check out BaYou with Love and all it has to offer? Instagram: @bayouwithlove
BaYou with Love by Nikki Reed: Earth Conscious Jewelry // Bayou with Love
