Environmental Change and The Impact on The Environment
The environment has faced a lot of changes in recent years due to global warming. It has had an impact on several industries, forcing them to make changes rapidly. The fashion industry is one of these industries in particular. Another that is massively being affected by these changes in the jewellery industry.
It is much more difficult for this industry to make the changes and adapt to the world’s demands. Nonetheless, they have made some slight changes that reduce their carbon footprint. However, much more needs to be done if they want to slow down the damage to the planet.
Eco-Considerations with Jewellery
There are several reasons why the jewellery industry is struggling to reduce its carbon footprint. The majority of the materials to craft jewellery come from underground. Mining is one of the biggest contributors to producing CO2 emissions into the earth’s atmosphere. Due to the machinery that is used, it will be difficult to reduce CO2 emissions. There is one thing that can be done which is tracing where gemstones are mined from.
Additionally, more often than not, mines are located in developing countries. Leading to the miners getting exploited as well as the land. The majority of these miners will be working long hours, with little health and safety, and paid very little. It isn’t just gemstones that are damaging to the environment.
Harvesting pearls can also be an issue due to organisms being washed off the oyster shells. It is also known as organic waste. The reason for this being an issue is that when thrown back into the ocean. Sea animals will struggle to break down nutrients. It has a knock-on effect, leading to an increase in algae and deoxygenation. As you can imagine, it is highly damaging to the environment.
The Difficulty of Mining Gemstones in an Eco-Friendly Way
As mentioned before, the majority of where gemstones come from is developing countries. Due to the gemstones being located underground. It can be difficult to mine gemstones from the ground without producing carbon dioxide.
When looking at sustainable mining, it usually comes down to finding where they are produced and the supply chain. As you can imagine, the majority of the gemstones have been passed through many hands before getting to the retailer. We cannot bring mining to a halt although we can make the lives of miners much better than what it is.
Environmentalism and Jewellery
The 21-st century millennials are very educated on the issues that the world is facing. With the power of social media, they soon cancel out any businesses that are damaging the environment or sustainability with industries. That is one of the main reasons why the jewellery industry is making the changes it is today.
Some companies that are involved with the jewellery industry are using blockchain technology. Blockchain technology is something that could be highly beneficial for the jewellery industry. However, it is still early to tell whether it will impact the industry. It will be used to identify where the materials are mined, what materials it consists of and the people it has come through before making it to the shelf of a retail store.
The Current Regulations of Eco-Friendly Jewellery
Over the years of fairtrade mining, there have been several organisations that have formed. Fairtrade Gold and Fairmined Gold are a couple of initiatives that have been formed recently for sustainable and eco-friendly jewellery.
Small-scale mining is accountable for 10% of the total gold that is mined in the world. As stated earlier, small-scale mines are usually located in countries that are less developed. Fairmined Gold is an initiative to improve both working conditions and environmental outcomes. There are several mines and gold traders under this initiative.
Fairtrade Gold – This is similar to fairmined gold however, it is developed under a fairtrade labelling organisation system. It has over 41 fairtrade gold traders and 3 certified fairtrade gold producers. These two initiatives are encouraging sustainable mining however, much more needs to be done to reduce CO2 emissions.
Responsible Jewellery Council
The responsible jewellery council created a code of practice that addresses the issues of human rights for high-end jewellery markets. It has over 67 billion sales in the luxury jewellery market, estimated to be involved with a third of sales with luxury jewellery.
Kimberly Process Diamonds
Diamonds are probably one of the most controversial gemstones that are mined. If you are not sure why, watch the film Blood Diamond. These are often mined in war-torn countries where militias take advantage of the mines. Kimberly Process launched back in 2002 and, it is believed that they have managed to filter out 99% of conflict diamonds. However, despite the numbers that Kimberley Process is claiming. Several organisations have pulled out as they believe Kimberley Process is not providing enough evidence of the conflict diamonds that are entering the market. Another initiative that is similar to Kimberley Process is the Canadian diamond code.
The Future Of Eco-Friendly Jewellery
The US Environmental Protection Agency claimed that metal mining is the number one toxic polluter. This has led to more companies recycling jewellery instead of using fresh new materials. Vintage jewellery is one of the biggest jewellery makers for two reasons. That way, you are not supporting the new mines producing these materials. The second reason is because of the history of that vintage jewellery piece.
Lab-grown diamonds are also becoming extremely popular for jewellery makers. However, as it stands, there is no evidence that it is more eco-friendly. They use massive amounts of energy to create lab-created gemstones. If you have any gold jewellery then you could always sell it if you know you are not going to be wearing it again.
To Conclude
The jewellery industry is massively changing due to becoming more eco-friendly. Vintage jewellery is the best way for a customer to make sure that they are making a difference. Furthermore, more and more initiatives are being formed to improve the lives that work at modern-day mines and make them more sustainable.
