In my latest
article in
The Guardian Sustainable Business, I discuss the jewelry and precious metals industries’ work to address the issues resulting from water contamination. The stubborn fact persists that the easily found gold, platinum, and other precious metals and minerals have already been found. Now obnoxious quantities of soil and water are exhumed to extract the tiniest amount of precious metals. And that trend is only going to get worse as investors ditch the equities markets and look for a safer investment like gold.
Most of the work companies are doing is more of a token effort.
Tiffany & Co. allows you to trace your jewelry from mining to showroom. Boucheron donates funds for clean water projects. And Cartier has one project in Honduras to prevent water contamination from a contracted mine’s operations.
But most companies do absolutely nothing. Meanwhile, everything from cyanide to mercury ends up contaminating local water sources.
So what can be done? Buy from
companies that offer the most
transparency about their operations and
supply chain. Purchase vintage or recycled jewelry (which let’s face it, is often nicer) if you can.
Read the
full article on The Guardian’s
water hub. Also learn more about Fair Jewelry Action's
Marc Choyt, who I interviewed for this article.
Photo is of the Super Pit Gold Mine in Australia.
