From War to Peace

Californian Entrepreneur Paul Ogren is the kinda guy that you might have spotted in a peace activating hippy loving commune in the 1960's. As well as being a student of history, Paul has spent his life pondering and protesting upon why humans retain the futile need to wage war upon their own kind virtually non-stop.

Paul's great concern for the self destruction of the human race, has brought about his project "From War to Peace" in which he has incorporated artistry and recycling in it's most fascinating form. After the disarmament treaties led to the dismantlement of missile solos throughout the midwest in the US, Paul and his late wife had the copper cabling connecting those silos pulled from the earth, ground into copper chop, and made into butter smooth alloy they call Peace Bronze.

The next step in this intriguing project has been to create jewellery revolved around the international symbols of peace including Asian, Jewish, and Islamic recognised formations.

The cabling from disarmed nuclear missiles is cut down into raw copper chop

Then turned into peace bronze and made into jewellery

As part of their commitment to making the world a safer place, these guys also donate 20% of all profits to deserving peace and social justice organisations worldwide.

Not only do I find this particular company hard to get my head around due to it's crazy ingenuity, I am incredibly touched by the transformation of a single metal from something so destructive, into a beautiful sign of what we can all hope for the future.