is FAIR TRADE

1) ECONOMIC BENEFITS:

• ST provides direct employment & income to large numbers of Balinese silversmiths by providing a market for their product.
• ST pays all silversmiths & designers fair wages.
• ST thus supports the local Balinese economy.
• ST supports the economy & community of Berkshire county through local fundraisers, parties & show.

2) SOCIAL BENEFITS:

• ST supports silversmiths in maintaining their traditional skills.
• ST silversmiths use safe tools & materials in safe, clean & healthy conditions
• ST silversmiths work in small home industries, countering the trend towards mass-market production.

3) ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS:

• ST jewelry is made from silver that has been recycled from spent photographic films, papers & solutions
• ST's web-based business decreases travel emissions & reduces the consumer's environmental impact

FACTOIDS:

• In the US, photography - including medical & dental x-rays & graphic arts - is the number-one consumer of silver, using 80 million ounces of silver per year. That's as much as the world's two largest silver-mining companies produce in a year.
• Worldwide, the photography industry consumes 230 million ounces of the preciopus metal each year.