Jewelry made from biodegradable and/or recycled materials

Abstract

An item of jewelry is manufactured almost entirely from biodegradable and/or recycled. According to a presently preferred embodiment, jewelry is made primarily from a cornstarch based resin. The resin is used to form beads which are strung together to form a bracelet, a necklace or an earring. According to some embodiments, a charm bearing an environmental message is attached to the string of beads. The charm may be made from biodegradable material or from recycled metal such as recycled brass. The jewelry is preferably packaged in a clear envelope which is also made from cornstarch based resin. A hang tag is attached to the envelope with organic hemp string. The hang tag is made from unbleached post-consumer waste recycled paper and is printed with a soy based ink.

1 . An item of jewelry, comprising:
 a plurality of beads made from plastarch material, each bead defining a throughbore;   an endless filament extending through each throughbore joining said plurality of beads.   
   
   
       2 . An item of jewelry according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a charm coupled to said filament.   
   
   
       3 . An item of jewelry according to  claim 2 , wherein:
 said charm bears a message concerning environmentalism.   
   
   
       4 . An item of jewelry according to  claim 3 , wherein:
 said message is “no plastic”.   
   
   
       5 . An item of jewelry according to  claim 3 , wherein:
 said message is the international symbol for recycling.   
   
   
       6 . An item of jewelry according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a clear envelope, said beads and said filament being contained within said clear envelope, wherein   said clear envelope is made from plastarch material.   
   
   
       7 . An item of jewelry according to  claim 6 , wherein:
 said clear envelope defines an envelope throughbore.   
   
   
       8 . An item of jewelry according to  claim 6 , further comprising:
 a hang tag defining a tag throughbore; and   a cord extending through said envelope throughbore and said tag throughbore joining said envelope and said hang tag.   
   
   
       9 . An item of jewelry according to  claim 8 , wherein:
 said cord is made of organic hemp.   
   
   
       10 . An item of jewelry according to  claim 9 , wherein:
 said hang tag is made of unbleached recycled paper.   
   
   
       11 . An item of jewelry according to  claim 10 , wherein:
 said hang tag is imprinted with soy-based ink.   
   
   
       12 . An item of jewelry according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 said beads are dyed with herbal tea.   
   
   
       13 . An item of jewelry according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 said filament is elastic.   
   
   
       14 . An item of jewelry according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 said beads are different sizes.