Actress Madelaine Petsch says environmentalism was a daily practice growing up. And it’s a big part of the reason she’s the latest celebrity to sign on as an ambassador for sustainable jewelry brand Pandora.
“I was taught to recycle plastics with the [recycling] numbers at the age of four,” Petsch said in a recent interview.
“I was taught all about making eco-brews when I was a kid and how to compost, so finding a brand that is really putting earth-friendly practices first, investing in them, and championing sustainability is so cool and exciting for me,” she told L’Officiel USA.
Petsch says she’s been a fan of Pandora her whole life. “That sounds weird, but my aunt got me a Pandora charm bracelet when I was a kid and so I’ve had one my whole life. So to see my two worlds meet up, it’s something I’m really excited about.”
Pandora’s sustainable jewelry
The brand has been a leader in sustainable luxury. It sources all of its electricity from renewable resources, use recycled gold and silver, and, by 2025, all of its operations will be 100 percent carbon neutral. The brand was also among the first to launch lab-grown diamonds—a growing trend in ethical jewelry. It tapped supermodel Ashley Graham for that launch.
According Petsch, Pandora’s mission is exciting because the brand is such a champion of sustainable practices. The star appears in a video for Pandora alongside environmentalist Sophia Li, who Petsch calls “like the smartest sustainable creator ever.”
Petsch says the thing she loves the most about Pandora is that not only does the brand have pieces for everyone, but “they have so many different collections, some of which haven’t come out yet, some of which are already out that really anyone can wear across the board—[but] they are committed to using only recycled gold and silver in their jewelry by 2025 which is the coolest thing ever to me. They’re the largest jewelry brand by volume and they’re committing to using only recycled gold and silver by only 2025 is so huge to me. I couldn’t scream that louder from the top of my roof.”
Personal sustainability
Her own awakening around fashion and jewelry is fairly recent. “[I]t took me a while to learn how to implement my sustainable lifestyle into fashion. I didn’t really know much about that. But within the last couple of years, I started making choices that were better for the environment and doing my research.” Petsch now advocates for upcycling clothes and even swapping with friends instead of shopping for new. And when shopping’s a must, even the actress is a fan of secondhand shopping.
“It’s really cool to see how much of a fad that is for people to be going thrift shopping and I love that because it’s only championing more sustainable practices.”
The longtime environmentalist is also vegan, and she says it’s one of the easiest and most rewarding ways to help the planet, even without going vegan full-time.
“One thing that’s incredibly great for the environment is eating just on plant-based meal a day with no animal products can reduce your carbon footprint on the planet. I’m not telling everyone to go vegan,” she says, “but I think if people were more mindful of the animal products they consume, there would be less supply and demand and we wouldn’t be running the world into the ground.”
Related: 6 Women-Owned Jewelry Brands Turning Upcycled Metals and Ethical Diamonds Into Sustainable Luxury
