a ring from greenKarat
Jewelry is a part of our culture that won’t soon be forgotten. The old routine of “put a ring on her finger” is a long-standing tradition prevalent in most of the world.
But many organizations have stopped to think about the environmental impact of jewelry.
Mining for precious metals is a leading cause of environmental pollution, according to Enviroblog. Gold, for example, comes with a whole slew of environmental and social problems.
No Dirty Gold, an organization trying to clean up gold-mining, lists the impacts of gold-mining.
It’s a major source of water pollution because miners let acid drainage, byproducts like mercury and other toxic chemicals seep into nearby water sources. Cyanide is one chemical leaked by gold mines that ends up killing populations of fish.
Dust from mines and smog from smelting plants is a considerable source of pollution from gold-mining.
Because of a process called heap leaching, almost all excavated material during gold-mining becomes solid waste. Cyanide is leaked through ore to separate gold from other materials for collection. The gold is processed to remove the chemicals but the rest is polluted and becomes waste.
These processes endanger natural areas and displace communities. In addition to polluting areas and creating unfit living conditions, gold-mining can change cultural traditions and is associated with alcoholism and prostitution.
GreenKarat is a company which promotes an eco-friendly jewelry movement by selling jewelry—including engagement rings—made from recycled and synthetic resources which cause less social and environmental harm.
Their site reports that there is enough pre-mined gold in the form of old jewelry to satisfy the gold demand for 50 years. In other words, we wouldn’t have to mine any more gold if we demanded the use of recycled gold.
Diamonds are another source of detriment to the environment, contributing to war (see this entry on blood diamonds) and energy and solid waste from mining practices.
There is truly sustainable jewelry out there.
www.greenkarat.com
www.brilliantearth.com
www.leberjeweler.com
www.miadonna.com
www.ringworksstudio.com
wiserjewelry.com
Recycling is a top way to end harmful mining techniques. Old precious metals can be re-processed and re-shaped into beautiful new modern pieces.
Using synthetic diamonds is another method. GreenKarat sells these “created” stones and they’re quite pretty (see picture above).
This eHow article lists other tips on how to buy eco-friendly jewelry, like shopping at vintage or antique stores for the perfect ring.
Earthworks is a watchdog organization that can tell you if miners are really using sustainable practices, so check with them before purchasing a ring.
a ring from Leber Jewelers
Eco-friendly jewelers are beginning to emerge. They point out to me the fact that our ways of life aren’t always sustainable. It’s becoming more and more clear that we can’t just keep consuming blindly: we must stop and think about how our traditions and our conditioned wants (like my own yearning for a big sparkly diamond) stack up to their environmental impacts.
Jewelry is a part of our culture that won’t soon be forgotten. The old routine of “put a ring on her finger” is a long-standing tradition prevalent in most of the world.
But many organizations have stopped to think about the environmental impact of jewelry.
Mining for precious metals is a leading cause of environmental pollution, according to Enviroblog. Gold, for example, comes with a whole slew of environmental and social problems.
No Dirty Gold, an organization trying to clean up gold-mining, lists the impacts of gold-mining.
It’s a major source of water pollution because miners let acid drainage, byproducts like mercury and other toxic chemicals seep into nearby water sources. Cyanide is one chemical leaked by gold mines that ends up killing populations of fish.
Dust from mines and smog from smelting plants is a considerable source of pollution from gold-mining.
Because of a process called heap leaching, almost all excavated material during gold-mining becomes solid waste. Cyanide is leaked through ore to separate gold from other materials for collection. The gold is processed to remove the chemicals but the rest is polluted and becomes waste.
These processes endanger natural areas and displace communities. In addition to polluting areas and creating unfit living conditions, gold-mining can change cultural traditions and is associated with alcoholism and prostitution.
GreenKarat is a company which promotes an eco-friendly jewelry movement by selling jewelry—including engagement rings—made from recycled and synthetic resources which cause less social and environmental harm.
Their site reports that there is enough pre-mined gold in the form of old jewelry to satisfy the gold demand for 50 years. In other words, we wouldn’t have to mine any more gold if we demanded the use of recycled gold.
Diamonds are another source of detriment to the environment, contributing to war (see this entry on blood diamonds) and energy and solid waste from mining practices.
There is truly sustainable jewelry out there.
www.greenkarat.com
www.brilliantearth.com
www.leberjeweler.com
www.miadonna.com
www.ringworksstudio.com
wiserjewelry.com
Recycling is a top way to end harmful mining techniques. Old precious metals can be re-processed and re-shaped into beautiful new modern pieces.
Using synthetic diamonds is another method. GreenKarat sells these “created” stones and they’re quite pretty (see picture above).
This eHow article lists other tips on how to buy eco-friendly jewelry, like shopping at vintage or antique stores for the perfect ring.
Earthworks is a watchdog organization that can tell you if miners are really using sustainable practices, so check with them before purchasing a ring.
a ring from Leber Jewelers
Eco-friendly jewelers are beginning to emerge. They point out to me the fact that our ways of life aren’t always sustainable. It’s becoming more and more clear that we can’t just keep consuming blindly: we must stop and think about how our traditions and our conditioned wants (like my own yearning for a big sparkly diamond) stack up to their environmental impacts.
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