Eco friendly and cheap tarnish remover

 


Silver will always tarnish, it's a  chemical reaction between the metal, oxygen and sulphur dioxide, sounds scientific but it just the surrendering air and if the air is heavily polluted then the tarnish effect will happen quicker.
There are commercial tarnish removers that claim to restore the silver to it's original state and they probably do, but there are concerns about the toxicity of these products. There are simple, cheap solutions using readily available household products and that are highly efficient. There are variations that I have seen on the web for this recipe and they all apparently work, but the method that i use is the following.
2 tablespoons of baking powder
1 tablespoon of salt
Some aluminium Foil and for good measure I add a some extra pieces of scrap aluminium
2 cups boiling water

If very heavily tarnished then make the solution stronger ( there is no danger for the silver)

Place the aluminium foil in the bottom of a glass bowel or jam jar, put  the silver object on the foil ( it is very important that the silver is in contact with the aluminium) mix the ingredients in a separate bowel and then cover the silver object with this mixture and leave for 10 to 15 minutes ( there will be a smell of bad eggs this means it is working as the sulphur is released back into the air) After soaking,  remove and lightly scrub the object with a soft  toothbrush and rinse.


                                                               A after and before photo







                                                              







                                                                                                    


         

Urban mining and E waste

photo by JohnJMatlock

Urban mining is a term used to described the process of reclaiming the compounds and elements in building, products and waste. Apparently  1 gramme of gold can be reclaimed from 41 mobile phones  Unfortunately precious metals and base metals are needed more and more in the production of technological gadgets. Electrical goods nowadays have a life span of only a couple of years before it becomes e-waste, as the technology advances so fast the consumer feels the need, for different reasons to constantly update his collection of electronic gadgets  The problem is not going to go away, we need to recycle all electrical items. We should be recycling all our waste but that is not technically possible, but even more importantly we should be seriously tackling the issue of packaging, and consumerism, which in the past 25 years has increased to near unsustainable levels.

photo by manbeastextraodinaire

The recycling of electronics is not a solution to the growing problem as there are many hazardous elements that need to be extracted in adequate conditions to protect the worker. At the moment too much of the e waste is being dumped on the developing countries to be "recycled" in more often than not primitive conditions . Greenpeace are working on trying to bring awareness to people, but it is issue that we should all address when buying a new phone, computer, mp3, etc.

No Dirty Gold

A excellent campaign to bring awareness to the consumer about the gold mining techniques and the exploitation of the cheap local workforces around the world.  Sign their pledge to end dirty gold mining practices.

The impact and pollution of gold mining on the Amazon rain forest

A polluted river  in Guyana

The mining of precious metal has a impact on the environment, the health of those involved and the local population. Wwf estimate that worldwide 3400 tons of mercury are released into the environment. Mercury is used to extract gold from the rock usually  in the case of illegal or very rudimentary processing, the mercury is evaporated to obtain the gold. In Guyana, Suramin and Brazil there is a large problem with illegal mining in the rain forest and consequences of mercury on the local ecosystem and the inhabitants. Wwf are working with local populations to try to minimize the impact of gold mining on the local environment while still enabling very poor people to earn a living.

Check out the Wwf guianas web site for more in depth information on this subject. Mongaybay.com also have a page on their web site dedicated to this topic.



Burning  the mercury which is then released in to the environment



Glass bottle jewellery

Here in France most alcoholic drinks are sold in glass bottles, mainly in green, brown, blue and clear glass. None of these bottles are returnable. I cut and melt pieces of bottle glass in a kiln to create smooth looking beads.






A close up of a Stella Artois glass bottle bead bracelet



Wine and apple juice bottles were used to make these glass beads.

Blue beer bottle glass was used to make the beads of this necklace.

A close up of a bracelet with tumbled glass beer bottle beads.

A cluster of frosted beads on a necklace. 

Glass beer bottle earrings with sterling silver findings.

Beer bottle cap earrings

I try and collect a large example of different European beer bottle caps ( some of which i have drunk myself!) to create these fun earrings .

An example of turning useless rubbish into trashion.