Jewellery can be an inherently damaging business, as far as the natural world is concerned. Gemstones need to be extracted from under the ground, a process that can inflict serious harm on the natural world.
Importance of Sustainable and Ethical Practices in the Jewellery Industry
Of course, the stones themselves aren’t distributed evenly across the globe, and when they’re found only in countries with poor workers’ rights protections, the result is often that the miners themselves are forced to brave less-than-ideal working conditions. Similar concerns abound when it comes to the process of refining, cutting, and shipping the gems. If you’re in the market for a diamond necklace, a set of earrings, or an engagement ring, then these might all be worth considering.
Increasingly, environmentally-conscious consumers are looking for ways to enjoy quality jewellery that doesn’t impact the world in the same way. Fortunately, the modern industry offers a number of worthwhile compromises. Let’s consider a few of them.
Sustainable Sourcing of Materials
It’s possible to source the raw materials required for the crafting of jewellery in a way that’s ethically responsible and sustainable. This might mean minimising the consumption of mined metals in favour of recycled ones. It might also mean choosing mining operations that display a basic standard of ethics.
It can be difficult to distinguish ethical mining operations from non-ethical ones. To make this distinction, consumers and jewellers alike might look at certification programs, which aim to examine and judge the mines themselves. These programs include Fairmined and Fairtrade Gold, both of which are globally recognised.
Environmentally Friendly Production Methods
The right production methods can help to minimise the carbon footprint of any given item of jewellery. Renewable energy sources, like solar panels and wind turbines, might drive down the environmental cost of extracting raw materials, shipping them, and creating the final items. Measures which increase water efficiency at every stage of the supply chain will also be hugely helpful.
Of course, even when both mines and jewellers are carbon neutral, the environmental impact of a ring cannot be said to be zero, since mines inflict environmental damage that has nothing to do with greenhouse gas emissions.
One way around this is to resort to synthetic diamonds. These are grown in a laboratory, and so don’t come with any of the ethical baggage of an opaque mining operation in a foreign country. On the other hand, we might simply look at heirloom rings, and second-hand jewellery.
After all, if an item has already been crafted and enjoyed once, then its environmental and ethical impact is effectively zero. Thus, you can enjoy the ring that you’ve been handed by an older relative, guilt-free.
