Jewelry Artist Podcast: Green Jewelry Making with Christine Dhein

Think “green jewelry making” and one name comes to mind first: Christine Dhein. Jewelry artist, educator, and author as well, Christine Dhein will be forever linked with promoting practices that are friendly to both the environment and to jewelry makers.

ABOVE: Runway Circuit necklace with upcycled circuit boards and gold wire by Christine Dhein: edgy design, environmentally responsible theme, and . . . did you notice the color? Photo courtesy of the artist.

In 2008, she developed the first course on green jewelry making, taught at the prestigious Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts. The same year, she launched GreenJewelryNews.com for studio artists, industry professionals, and students. In 2018, her book Eco Jewelry Handbook: A Practical Guide for a Healthy, Safe and Sustainable Studio, became available. Over the years, many jewelers have worked to improve standards and pushed for studio and environmental safety. Christine’s efforts have been nothing short of a clarion call that puts healthy studio practices within the larger context of a healthy ecosystem.

The Chemicals We Keep

As part of a recent Earth Day celebration, Christine spoke to Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist feature writer Sharon Thompson for her story “Friendly All Around” (LJJA March/April 2020). Since many traditional metalsmithing techniques involve chemicals that can be dangerous, reviewing them is a good place to jump in. “Make sure you need all the toxic chemicals you’re using for what you’re doing,” Christine says. Then get rid of any that you don’t need — and be sure to dispose of them properly.

She also recommends looking for the least toxic solutions you can find for a given operation. Among her suggestions offered in the Eco Jewelry Handbook are using white vinegar as pickle, and a warm, hard-boiled egg for patinating sterling silver and copper. And her admonition for proper disposal extends to everything, including such seemingly benign household ingredients. Once they’ve been used for metalsmithing, she explains, they may no longer be so benign.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Christine also keeps in mind that triple R mantra of the environmental movement and tries to apply it to the specifics of the jewelry studio. While hazardous materials are an obvious concern for jewelers and the environment, using resources wisely also helps both. Running a tumbler at off-peak hours, for example, keeps jewelry making costs down and helps minimize the environmental impact of generating electricity, even if it’s only on a small scale.

On a larger scale are the impacts of mining metal and stone. “Precious” really means something here: extracting these materials can be very costly, in many ways. Treat them as such, Christine advises. Make them go as far as you can in your designs, capture all your scrap, and either reuse it yourself or make sure it can be recycled. Toward that end, Christine has also produced two videos on the ancient Korean technique of keum-boo, including information on how to recycle gold in a small-scale jewelry studio.

Merle White
Editor-in-Chief, Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist

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