Colors aren’t just about fashion anymore, they stand for worthy causes. Lance Armstrong gave us yellow, Bono gave us Red, and now jewelry designers are giving us a new reason to go green. Lately we’ve seen Simmons Jewelry Company come out with the Green Initiative collection, and even more recently Mauri Pioppo offers the Live Green collection with 30% of her proceeds going to the Natural Resources Defense Council. But to jewelry designer John Hardy, giving back to the environment is nothing new, not to a man who built his entire design studio out of bamboo.

John Hardy’s collections reflects his love for color and detail, but what he's most known for is his mastery of silver.

You’d never guess that the designs for his sparkling diamonds and glowing sapphires are actually sketched from under a thatched roof deep in the rice farms of Bali. But that’s John’s style, sustainable living. That’s why he keeps his own cows, goats, chickens, and rabbits, as well as cultivates sugar cane and rice, so that he can feed his seven hundred employees a healthy lunch everyday.

There’s also a building in the complex known as the showroom where grass and bamboo walls come together forming an arch covered with waxed cotton which is reminiscent of a hand-hewn cathedral. Inside John has furniture and shelves fashioned from the roots of riverine trees off the island of Sumbawa. He apparently rescued the trees when he found out they were going to be burned.

John’s deep respect for nature is truly inspiring. And as more and more jewelry designers heed the call to become environmentally friendly, it cannot be denied that John Hardy will always be the greenest of them all.