One man's trash... another woman's treasure?
"It's whatever I find," said Lindsey Antram, owner of Grey Jays jewelry line, "I build around that very specific piece."
For Antram, living responsibly begins with making responsibly.
"I think that we're getting to a point where-- where our environment-- that it's, we have to do something about it. Like, things are changing very drastically within our climate."
A 2015 study by a group at U.C. Santa Barbara says that every year, 8 million metric tons of plastic end up in our oceans. They estimate that number will double by 2025.
"It's come to a kind of unfortunate spot where we have to make it, and people are ready to listen."
Ready to listen-- and ready to glisten.
Her handmade jewelry line Grey Jays, displayed at Boise's Wintry Market this weekend, is made almost entirely of repurposed objects that she either finds or are donated, like single-use plastics she manipulates.
"I use just a lot of heat with that and then I make molds for it and things like that, as well, and just kind of try to, ya know, create within popular styles that people are interested in."
She says she's hoping that if people are interested in the styles, they'll also be interested in preserving the beauty of our earth.
"I'm just trying to do what I think I can do as one person and one business, and use my platform and what I have-- and my following-- to hopefully educate."
Speaking of her following, Wintry Market organizer Amy Pence-Brown says the event helps people meet artists-- like Antram-- in person, who they may follow on social media.
"We are so separated by screens, and, um, we don't have a lot of one-on-one interaction, and I think that a lot of people are craving that," said Brown.
And the numbers agree. She said Sunday morning that Wintry Market had already surpassed last year's estimate of about 12 thousand attendees.
"I do get people that come up and they're like, 'Oh my gosh, I've been following you on Instagram but I've never seen your things in person,' and it's amazing. And we've formed that connection but we get to make it more personal through this market," said Antram.
