Crafting Sustainable and Morally Responsible Jewelry: Key Factors Explored
Diving past the glitz and glam of the conventional jewelry industry reveals a grittier reality, rife with environmental degradation and human rights issues. But there's a solution - and I've teamed up with eco-conscious jewelry brand, Laura Elizabeth, to show you how.
Let's first address the elephant in the room...
The Grim Reality Behind Jewelry Production
The glittering goods you might find in jewelers and department stores hide a dark origin. Most of the world’s gold is sourced from open-pit mines, where vast tracts of biodiversity are annihilated, and massive amounts of earth are dug up for trace metals. [1] Earthworks reasons, "gold mining is one of the most destructive industries in the world." It displaces communities, ruins ecosystems, and poisons water supplies with toxic substances like mercury and cyanide. [2] And the environmental devastation will only heighten as gold becomes scarcer, demanding more resources to obtain lesser amounts.
Even as far back as 2000, the EPA reported that mining had contaminated 40% of the watersheds in the Western United States. [3]
How does this affect the jewelry industry? The jewelry industry is the largest consumer of gold, snatching up about 50% of the world's supply. [4] As for the connection between mining and the jewelry you wear, Earthworks calculated that an average gold ring creates 20 tons of mine waste. [5]
The mining industry is just as unethical in its treatment of workers as it is of the environment. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), the mining and quarrying sector drives 4% of forced labor globally. [6] The ILO also reports that tens of thousands of children are working in gold mines today, making this industry a significant player in child labor as well. [7]
So, the problems are apparent - the jewelry industry needs an overhaul. Brands like Laura Elizabeth have been trailblazing ethically produced jewelry, demonstrating how to create stunning pieces respectfully.
What Makes Jewelry Eco-Friendly and Ethical?
To determine whether a brand is genuinely producing eco-friendly and ethical jewelry, here are some telltale signs:
1. Green Metals
With the vast amount of precious metals and gems circulating, there's little reason not to choose recycled materials. Especially considering that recycled gold maintains the same quality as newly mined gold but does 99% less harm to our planet, according to an analysis by DELL of various environmental factors such as global warming, acidification, eutrophication, ecotoxicity, and carcinogens. [8]
Laura Elizabeth is dedicated to this more environmentally and, let's face it, logical choice. Their pieces are made from sustainably sourced metals, with the exception of chains, wires, and clasps, which are obtained from Rio Grande, a jewelry-making company that uses 100% solar-powered energy for its facility and follows ethical sourcing practices.
2. Safer Chemicals
An often-overlooked issue in the jewelry industry is the unsafe chemicals used in jewelry cleaning and polishing. These practices have even led to jewelry workers getting poisoned by cyanide. [9] Laura Elizabeth strives to minimize the use of harmful substances, avoiding acids and hazardous chemicals and instead using household cleaning products like Seventh Generation products.
3. Fair Working Conditions
Unfair labor practices are unfortunately common in conventional jewelry workshops and factories. It's vital to ask #WhoMadeMyJewelry just as we ask #WhoMadeMyClothes. Laura Elizabeth's jewelry is crafted in a small, woman-owned studio in Los Angeles that Laura has worked with for over a decade.
This studio ensures fair practices like reasonable working hours (7 hours a day, 5 days a week), proper ventilation, and fair wages, even going so far as to pay employees an additional two weeks' pay when Los Angeles was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
4. Eco-Conscious Production
Improper disposal of production waste is a widespread issue, leading to pollution in industries like textiles. The jewelry industry shares this problem. Many manufacturers will dump plaster waste from production into water and sewage systems. Laura Elizabeth carefully disposes of their plaster waste to avoid contaminating the environment.
5. Sustainable Packaging
Last but not least, packaging! Traditional packaging materials are made from virgin plastic and virgin paper. A more eco-friendly choice is to seek compostable and/or recyclable packaging. Laura Elizabeth currently uses recycled paper and packaging and will soon switch to compostable boxes with biodegradable algae ink.
And that covers many of the components of what eco-friendly and ethical jewelry is all about!
Laura Elizabeth undoubtedly meets these standards - a woman-owned and -operated brand that designs stunning jewelry with a carefull eye toward sustainability and the welfare of both the planet and the people creating and adorning the pieces. Several of Laura Elizabeth's pieces, like her cuffs, are even inspired by nature's elements!
To explore Laura Elizabeth's collection of timeless, earth-conscious jewelry, visit their website, LauraElizabethJewelry.com. You'll find pieces that impress on their own or can easily be mixed, matched, and layered.
- The jewelry industry, being the largest consumer of gold, plays a significant role in the environmental degradation caused by gold mining, which is one of the most destructive industries globally.
- Ethical jewelry brands, such as Laura Elizabeth, demonstrate that it is possible to create fashionable pieces without harming the environment or exploiting laborers.
- In order to qualify as eco-friendly and ethical, a jewelry brand should use recycled metals, safer chemicals, promote fair working conditions, adhere to eco-conscious production practices, and utilize sustainable packaging materials.
- By choosing eco-friendly and ethical jewelry brands like Laura Elizabeth, consumers can make a positive impact on the environment, support artisans, and contribute to a more sustainable fashion-and-beauty industry, which in turn contributes to a better climate-change and environmental science-focused lifestyle.
