Let’s start with a little jewelry industry context: all precious metals get recycled. 

When we talk about recycling in other contexts, we’re usually talking about reducing waste, but the truth is no one wastes silver or gold.  There isn’t a giant island of cast off gold floating somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, or landfills overflowing with discarded precious metal scraps (if there were, they wouldn't last long). 

So, if it isnt about reducing waste, what are we even talking about?

Unfortunately, it's a conversation we know all too well: of developing nations with massive wealth in the form of natural resources, and the myriad risks, damages and exploitations that occur as a result of those resources being extracted amidst today's global economic inequality. Gold mining in particular can be incredibly damaging, because mercury is often used as a cheap and effective way to extract the gold from the gold-bearing dirt. This is harmful to the miners themselves, to their communities and to the global water supply. If a company is branding around "recycled metals", the implicit claim is that their metals are not contributing to those sorts of irresponsible mining practices. But, unfortunately, that might not be true. The global desire for precious metals isn't decreasing, and the supply of recycled metals does not satisfy the demand. So the mining continues.

Then why are we still bragging about our recycled metals?

The mining of precious metals will continue, but so will the recycling of precious metals. The real problem with a company talking about their recycled metals as virtue signaling is that "recycled metals" can mean almost anything.

So let's go ahead and define our terms: the recycled gold and silver used at Ceci Greco is sourced exclusively from jewelry melt from within the United States by a domestic refinery at the forefront of the clean metals movement. That means if bullion- or even jewelry- shows up from an unknown international source, they wont accept it. It's not 100% foolproof, but it is a major move toward keeping that particular supply chain clean.

It's also important to us that this particular refinery is actively involved in metals mining reform. The way we see it, if we're supporting a business that's a part of the solution, then we're all getting closer to solutions that much faster.

So, we stand by our choice to use - and talk about- recycled metals, but we do recommend jewelry consumers exercise caution regarding any company branding around recycled metals: the potential for greenwashing is real.