From e-waste to Jewellery

Ever wished to make something beautiful from everyday e-waste? The following article originally posted on The Star in January 2022 may make an interesting read.

Not only is gold mining one of the leading drivers of deforestation in the Amazon, but most of it is also carried out in unethical ways.

So, what if you could make jewellery out of ethical, conflict-free gold while simultaneously helping to recycle elements from technological waste?

When this anthropologist and a jeweller teamed up, they set out to achieve precisely that, and they succeeded. Mara & Villosa create jewellery with gold derived solely from the recycling of our technological devices. Indeed, our valuable trash has the potential to mitigate the environmental and social harm caused by gold miners.

Pascale Veerling is an anthropologist who lives in Utrecht, Holland. She became aware of the environmental and social devastation caused by precious metal mines while on a study trip to Peru.

Although gold is a noble metal, it appears that the conditions under which it is extracted are not so noble. Indeed, she was able to watch mercury being spilled into nature in illegal gold mines where children work… This encounter prompted her to embark on a voyage she had never planned.

When she returned to Utrecht, she established the Fair Gold Foundation to raise public awareness about the harm caused by precious metals.

In 2018, she collaborated with Judigje van Emmerik to establish Mara & Villosa, a jewellery line made entirely of gold salvaged from electrical devices. Judigje makes the jewellery herself in her workshop.

The jewellery is certified as being manufactured from recycled gold, providing another opportunity to raise awareness about the harm caused by unsourced gold, as well as the worth of our technological trash and the importance of recycling it.