Every time I am contacted by someone in the media, or if I'm applying to a craft show, it seems that a question about my company's eco-friendliness is always popping up.
When I started Queens Metal, my biggest concern was, "Is anyone actually gonna BUY this stuff??"
When I went full-time with the biz, my biggest concern was, "Can I actually do this 24/7 and survive?" (The answer is "Yes" --- but only if you do it literally 24/7).
Now, a few years have passed and it's not so much about just trying to survive anymore. I've got a little more room to play around with questions like, "Am I green?" (Actually, to answer that, these days I'm looking more and more like the color of a roasted coffee bean)
Anyways, in the past few months, I've been taking some steps to make Queens Metal more earth-friendly. Here's where I'm at in the green-ification of my company:
- I've been actively sourcing the majority of my metals from earth-friendly vendors who use pre-produced metals to minimize the impact of mining on our environment. Silver is a finite resource, and it's becoming increasingly more difficult to obtain through mining. Luckily, scrap silver can easily be melted down and reused. Awesome!
- Jewelry is packaged in gift boxes made from recycled materials. I found these beautiful Kraft jewelry gift boxes made with recycled cardboard. Earth-friendly and fabulous, too!
- My shipping processhas been streamlined to eliminate any unnecessary and wasteful packaging materials. No oversized boxes, packing peanuts, wadded up papers or receipts. Just a business card, a "thank you" message and the product.
- I've forged partnerships with other local, independent vendors so that many of my supplies and materials don’t have to travel from far-off places. Plus, it's great for me -- if i need something, I don't need to wait for-e-ver for it to arrive in the mail.
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