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A UNIQUE ETHOS » LAIBACH
PRINCIPLES » THE NOVA KEY
To clearly describe
the ethical nature of each jewellery piece, Atelier Laibach uses
the NOVA Key Ethical Clarity Label.
The NOVA Key is an
extremely versatile "dynamic" label characterized by four letters
spelling the word "NOVA". These letters establish the ethical
nature of a product in a unique and unambiguous manner. It provides
a quick reference for you the customer, disclosing the product's
ethical "footprint" so you can determine at a glance if it generally
suits your ethical preferences.
A letter in the NOVA
Key can be marked with or without a cross (X)
to instantly reflect the "ethical" composition of the product.
This crossing gives you a clear, informed choice as to whether
or not the product is suitable for you.
Each of the four letters
which make up the NOVA Key is represented as follows:
- "N"
for Natural
Shows whether or not the product contains genetically modified
ingredients.
- "O"
for Organic
Shows whether or not the product is free of chemical pesticides,
fertilizers or other non-organic materials.
- "V"
for Vegetarian / Vegan
Shows whether or not the product contains animals, fish
and their derivatives. It is vegan when the "V"
is underlined in light green. 
- "A"
for Animal Welfare and Habitat
The "A" has three interlinked functions. A clear (uncrossed)
"A" indicates that the product and ingredients have not been
animal tested. If a clear "A" is underlined in green this
indicates the product is rainforest, natural habitat and ecologically
friendly (and with jewellery, not newly mined). If the product
is animal-based, an uncrossed "A" indicates that welfare standards
are approved*. If any of the above conditions are not met
then the "A" is crossed.
* Farm animal
welfare approvals are not based on external farm standards
labelling but instead the undertaking of independant verification
by The NOVA Key to establish stress-free treatment and freedom
of livestock on organic smallholdings.
Laibach
Jewellery NOVA Key Crossings
A product has to be
95% organic to allow the NOVA Key "O" to be left uncrossed.
There may occasionally be a Laibach piece where you see that the
"O" for Organic has been crossed on the NOVA Key to show that
it contains non-organic materials. For example, this might be
on a jewellery piece which may consist of a quantity of sea-glass,
bringing the entire piece above the organic threshold. Glass or
plastics are not "organic". We only ever use recycled
glass (sea-glass) and on very rare occasions recycled biodegradable
plastic from vegetable crop derivatives.
Minerals and metal
ores are exempt from a NOVA Key cross on the "O" for
Organic. This is because ores such as gold and other pure precious
metals are a natural earth deposit.
If any Laibach piece
contains glue, we will not be required to cross the "O", because
our glue's non-organic ingredients always make up less than 5%
of the overall piece. As mentioned above, a product has to be
95% organic to allow the NOVA Key "O" to be left uncrossed. The
glues we use are suitable for vegans.
The "A" for animal
welfare may need to be crossed on non-food products if it contains
a chemical additive (such as glue) which has been tested on animals
since 1985. The glue Laibach uses if necessary in jewellery fixings
has never been tested on animals and is vegan friendly.
Precious metals and stones are mostly extracted from the earth
to the detriment of natural flora and fauna habitats. The "A"
may be underlined with a light green bar if metals used in a product
are only from a recycled source and have not been freshly extracted
from the ground. All our precious metals are from a strictly monitored
recycled source. We gather our non-precious surface stones, such
as pebbles and sea-glass by hand without negative impact to the
environment or its ecosytem. Any diamonds we include in our pieces
are lab-created* or reclaimed from old jewellery (subject to our
10 year threshold principle).
Some customers prefer
the style of black rubber neck cord or black cotton cord instead
of metal chains on certain pendants and necklaces (as seen on
a couple of our example pieces). Because of this, we offer the
option of these materials by customer request only.
However, the source of the ingredients of these cord options have
so far been impossible to fully determine:
a) Whether or not the rubber or cotton neck cord contains any
animal derivatives.
b) Whether or not either the rubber or cotton neck cord is made
from recycled materials.
c) Whether or not the cotton neck cord is organic.
Some manufacturers or suppliers give tenuous or conflicting information
about these considerations, and since they are unable to provide
straightforward answers, we do not apply the NOVA Key to rubber
or cotton neck cord until we can correctly initialise their ethical
make-up. At present, vegans may wish to avoid the rubber cord
and we suggest you choose our hand-crafted chains instead.
*The NOVA Key
has presently determined that Lab-Created diamonds do not require
crossings on the "A" or "N". Lab-grown diamonds,
using HPHT or CVD processes, constitute identical elements to
mined diamonds. Being lab-grown they are not a detrimental risk
to natural selection and therefore categorized as exempt from
"N" (and also "O" crossings as in the case
of precious metals and gems). However, mined stones and precious
metals (not recycled) will incur a cross on the "A"
if shown to have caused displacement and destruction of flora
and fauna habitat.
For more information
on The NOVA Key please visit the NOVA
Key website at www.novakey.org.uk
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Only
recycled precious metals and not directly mined and therefore
no further displacement of fragile eco-systems.
