Ring in your Valentine’s Day — or any romantic occasion — with rings. If you and your sweetie love the environment as fervently as you love each other, you’ll delight in the selection of rings from artisans and DIY enthusiasts who incorporate repurposed elements into their designs. Items such as sea glass. Whiskey barrels. And flatware.
In addition to supporting sustainability, upcycled rings offer an opportunity to decorate your fingers with something fresh, exciting, and enticingly untraditional.
Take a look.
Recycled Whiskey and Wine Barrels
The Delaney Rings Etsy shop sells rings showcasing wood from old whiskey and wine barrels. “People love them for their … unique qualities and as a way of showing their passion for wines and whiskeys,” says Etsy shop owner Matthew Delaney of Las Vegas.
Recycled Guitar Strings
Fox Design Jewelry Etsy shop owner Jeanna Fox of Ohio upcycles previously played guitar and piano strings into rings and other jewelry. She says, “Guitar strings are not recyclable by standard methods because they are made of mixed metals … My boyfriend (now husband) was teaching his son to change the strings on his guitar. They went through a couple of sets of strings in just a few days. I set their discarded guitar strings aside thinking they were too pretty to go in the trash. Here we are all these years later.” Her wedding-ring set is fashioned from upcycled strings.
Her Etsy page states: “If you know someone who plays a stringed instrument and changes their strings regularly, please put me in touch with them. I would like to keep the strings from ending up in a landfill.”
Recycled Sea Glass
“I love to work with sea glass, sea pottery and even sea plastic in my (jewelry) pieces,” says Keeley Hogg of London, owner of the I Love Dolly shop on Etsy. “I started this mainly as I love how they look and how they challenge what a ‘gem’ is.”
Recycled Plywood
Robin Ablitzer of Switzerland, the owner of Etsy shop, Robinwoodrings, retrieves leftover wood scraps for some of his ring designs.
“I source the wood from a local carpentry shop,” he says. “These are usually pieces that are too small to be used for cabinet making and would otherwise end up in the trash.”
Extra perk: Robin’s Etsy page states that every ring sold plants a tree.
Upcycled Vintage Silverware
“There have been so many talented silversmiths in the past that have created spoons with such amazing designs. It would be a shame not to show these off,” says Femke Whittaker-Treffers, owner of Funky Vintage Fem Etsy shop.
Other Rings With Upcycled Materials Worth a Look
- Scrap inner tube recycled into a fluffy ring from Laura Zabo of London, owner of LauraZabo Etsy shop
- Upcycled roller skate bearing ring from Dear Emily Jewelry Etsy shop
- Recycled rubber ring from Izzi Valentine Etsy shop in London
- Fork ring from Dremeworks Etsy shop
- Denim ring from Denim Flower Design Etsy shop
DIY Rings Using Repurposed Materials
If you’d like to try your hand at making a ring using repurposed materials, here are just a few of the many DIY ring projects you can find on the web.
- Floral ring from soda bottle from Instructables
- Paper rings from Instructables and WikiHow
- Recycled tile ring from Instructables
- Insulated wire ring from Instructables
Featured image courtesy of Funky Vintage Fem Etsy shop