Let’s talk about Circular Economy - An Interview with 'The Slow Label'

The common life cycle of a product in our linear economy is: made, used and discarded. And unfortunately this has not only been the case since yesterday, but has been the case for around 1.5 centuries. The raw materials needed to manufacture these products are not reused but end up in landfill. Not only does this mean endless waste and the consequences for our climate are devastating, the raw materials used are also limited. According to forecasts, we would need three earths in 2050 to meet our raw material requirements. At least if nothing changes. And this is where the circular economy comes in. The circular economy is an economic model in which existing products and materials are constantly being fed back into the cycle. This is done by reusing, sharing, repairing and recycling what already exists for as long as possible. In this way, product life cycles are extended many times over, resources and our climate are protected and the world's mountains of rubbish have the chance to shrink.n.

Ever since Maren Jewelery was founded, we have seen ourselves as a mindful, responsible and sustainable company. Consequently, the only option for us was to run our company according to the principles ofcircular economy build up. We firmly believe that it is possible to trigger systematic change if only enough companies join us on this journey. For this reason, we are big fans of all other labels that also follow a circular approach and thus enable and strengthen the circular economy. Whether within the jewelry industry or beyond.

Today we speak to Anna-Laura Amenta, the founder of the sustainable label founded in 2019 The Slow Label about starting her business and her first circular product. The company is built on the three basic principles of sustainability, transparency and social responsibility and is extremely honest in its communication right from the start with regard to raw materials and production, but also to any weak points and potential for improvement.

What is particularly advanced for us is that it is completely transparent Price breakdown for each individual product, which shows exactly which components and how much the corresponding product price is made up of.

With The Slow Label, we wanted to found a fashion label that covers the topic of "fair fashion" holistically. That means: full transparency, slow growth, timeless collections, gentle marketing, respect and fairness in the supply chain and an effort to always use the most sustainable and innovative materials. In our opinion, there are not enough of these on the market!

We are still in the initial phase of the project, so unfortunately we cannot draw any conclusions yet. However, I can already say that the response has been great and that we have learned a lot over the past few months. We took part in circularity workshops with other fashion brands, recyclers and clothes collectors and learned a lot about circularity and reverse logistics. The coming months will show how this learning can be implemented in practice.

The biggest challenge when implementing a circularity project or take-back program is the "reverse supply chain". How does the product get back to us Who pays the expensive shipping costs Who sorts out the bad products Where do the bad ones go and where the good ones? We were confronted with all these questions (and a few more). Fortunately, we are not alone and regularly exchange ideas with other fashion brands. Because only together can the fashion industry finally become more circular.den.

Yes! As soon as we see initial success, we will strive to expand the take-back program to a larger range of products.

As mentioned at the beginning, we have also built our company in such a way that it benefits the circular economy. We put this project into practice with the following approaches:

> Urban mining
Since the company was founded, we have only used recycled 18 carat gold and recycled 925 sterling silver to make our jewelry. You can find out more in ourUrban Mining Journal.

> Synthetic Eco diamonds
Furthermore, we use diamonds grown directly in the laboratory, the origin of which is 100% transparent and unproblematic. In terms of quality and appearance, these diamonds are in no way inferior to their natural counterparts. You can find all of the details in ourJournal of Synthetic Diamonds read.

> packaging
Our two packaging variants made of paper and linen are also fully recyclable and therefore as sustainable as possible. Find out more about our sustainable partners in the field of packaging in ourJournal about sustainable jewelry packaging.

> WeMind
We have our sustainability efforts in the form of our specially created for this purposeWeMind initiative detained. In particular, we would like to emphasize the two points 'Designed for Deconstruction' and 'Made for you' in relation to the circular economy. All of our jewelry is designed to be easily professionally remelted. The precious metals and all other components can then be used again. In addition, we only manufacture as soon as we receive an order. In this way, there are no unused stocks and we save unnecessary resources of any kind.t.

The Slow Label put it wonderfully aptly on their website for fashion: Getting dressed is a daily ritual of buying clothes shouldn't be. We encourage you to continuously make conscious choices and cherish what you already have.e.”

However, the statement does not only apply to fashion. Before consuming any new product, you should consider for yourself whether you really need it, whether you will actually use it regularly, how durable it is and whether you might not be able to borrow, lease or find something used that is comparable. And if you decide to buy after careful consideration, it is best to go for sustainable and circular companies.

You should constantly maintain things that you already own, repair them if necessary and use them as long as possible. If you no longer need something or you don't like it anymore, try to give it away or sell it. In this way, it may be able to serve its subsequent owner for many more years before ideally being recycled.d.