Jewelry_cycle is an educational showcase of wearable treasures made from re-purposed and recycled materials. With the idea of an exhibition in mind, co-curators Christine Dhein and Christophe Koch asked the collective members to create wearable art from a variety of small, discarded circuit boards. Circuit boards are commonly made from fiberglass, epoxy resin, and a variety of metals, the latter which are likely to be one third of the material. These materials include copper, silver, and gold, which ass a precious element to what would otherwise be considered e-waste. The collective discovered the hidden potential, and transformed these materials to create brilliant, sparkling jewels.

Circuit boards are the foundation of modern society and the intelligence behind the electronic products we use everyday, including: computers, cell phones, digital cameras, microwaves, CD/DVD players, and cars, just to name a few. Until 2006, many circuit boards contained mercury and lead, making them difficult to recycle. Today, some companies reclaim the precious metals in circuit boards by recycling e-waste, but many circuit boards, discarded by manufacturers and consumers, still end up in landfills.

Landfills across America are filled with valuable resources, including glass, aluminum, plastic and even gold. The value of these resources is lost to us because they were discarded before their full potential was harnessed. Think back on how many things you have thrown away over the course of your lifetime. Did any of them have the potential to be used by another person or transformed into something beautiful?

How can you change your sense of aesthetics and beliefs about consumption in order to see the potential value in the discarded in a whole new way?