For the past few decades, a new kind of waste has tormented Earth. Unfortunately, the rapid advancements in the technology sector have resulted in an exponential increase in e-waste. Much of this e-waste is abundant in precious metals. In fact, Americans trash more than $60 million of gold and or silver found in phones every year.
Bayou with Love is working tirelessly to remedy this problem. Founded by designer, musician, environmentalist, and Twilight actress Nikki Reed, Bayou with Love is a lifestyle brand focused on sustainable and ethical practices within the fashion and jewellery industry.
They are partnered with tech company Dell to use gold recovered from discarded technology in their lines of jewellery. Dell’s method of gold extraction is far more environmentally friendly than extracting gold from the earth and reduces overall e-waste.
At Bayou with Love, recycled metals are separated from their accompanying alloys. This refining process results in gold without the environmental consequences of mining. Additionally, the Bayou with Love factory recycles and reuses all of their water. All trace metals left in the water are refined and recycled.
Reed ensures that Bayou with Love keeps to the highest production standards. “The facility we work with promotes that they have developed a proprietary filtering and recycling method for all the wax used in casting and molding departments to further reduce what would typically be considered waste. They maintain a traceable chain of custody from the refining of recycled precious metals to their practices,” reads Bayou with Love’s website.
Even the precious stones that Bayou with Love uses in its pieces are ethically and sustainably sourced. For the most part, their diamonds are lab-grown by Diamond Foundry, the world’s first certified 100% carbon-neutral diamond producer.
Additionally, Bayou with Love’s sapphires are sourced from eastern Australia at a family-owned mine and later cut in Oregon. All of their practices are completely sustainable and conducted using ethical labour.
Bayou with Love carries its mission of sustainability into its clothing lines as well. They recently released a brand-new loungewear line consisting of fruit dyed pieces made from modal, a plant-based fabric made from beech tree pulp. The line has been produced in smaller batches to coincide with their slow fashion mission.
“The loungewear is all designed with versatility in mind. These styles can be worn out with friends or to bed. They are meant to layer with your existing wardrobe, and during this pandemic I found our robe which doubles as a trenchcoat to be my go to ‘work from home’ look,” said Reed on Instagram about the line.
Bayou with Love is sustainable in every sense of the word, but they are striving to do more. Recently, Reed took to social media to explain why sustainable fashion is not enough. “Regenerative fashion must replace sustainable fashion. It’s no longer enough to be carbon neutral, we have to find ways to regenerate from all of the taking we have done to the Earth.”
She went on to discuss the importance of the gold that Bayou with Love is refining from Dell’s e-waste: “Less is the only way forward. Part of why I like working with Gold is because it is a natural element. It is also an heirloom, and it is treasured as it is passed down from generation to generation. That to me is sustainable. My hope is that consumer habits shift to a space where we purchase things that we treasure. We purchase with a checklist in mind, one that includes the planet.”
All images in this article are courtesy of Bayou with Love.
