For such small objects, jewelry can carry great intangible weight that unfortunately isn’t limited to the sentiment “I love you.” Precious metals and stones may bear terrible unheard stories of human suffering and environmental degradation through destructive mining processes and virtual slave labor practices.
Worse yet, some gems—such as the notorious “blood diamonds”—are mined in war zones and sold illegally to finance further violence. Here are some planet and people friendly ideas to ensure that your gift does not support such practices . . .
General Resources
- Green Assay, a greenKarat tagging feature that rates each jewelry component’s ecological characteristics.
- If your giftee’s heart is set on gold, browse the No Dirty Gold Campaign Web site that contains a list of retailers pledged to follow the “Golden Rules” by upholding high standards in the areas of gold mining-affiliated human rights and ecological preservation.
- View the Diamond Buyer’s Guide, published by Amnesty International and Global Witness, for information about conflict-free diamonds and a list of questions to ask vendors.
Product Purchasing
Choose a socially and environmentally conscious jewelry company, such as:
- greenKarat that uses recycled gold obtained by processes that do not release toxic cyanide or mercury into the atmosphere
- Moonrise Jewelry that uses local production to create handmade jewelry from fair trade gems
Opt for reuse products:
- Buy previously owned jewelry at an antique store or estate sale
- Have outdated “family heirloom” pieces refashioned into something current
- greenKarat provides information about donating gold pieces for recycling or reuse
Take a look at some of the wonderful jewelry made from cleverly recycled objects such as that found at: 
- EcoArtwear or RepurposedForYou
- If your recipient’s jewelry preference is futuristic and tech-inspired, check out Arteco featuring uniquely crafted jewelry items that make excellent use of recycled high–tech components
Buy fair trade jewelry that directly supports Third World craftspeople, such as that available at:
More from GLI:
I make eco jewelry in the UK, take a look at my website. http://www.missohaha.com
All reused materials. I am also against mining minerals and everything mined it is very distructive. Usally means upsetting local people and leaving them with a devastated landscape. I have Australian native friends who have tried to stop miners on there land and not succeeded and left them with no land and a huge law bill.
i\’ve been making jewelries made from recycled materials i would like to promote it as the \”in\” fashion of today and for the feauture. I\’ll share some of my photos next time.
Anne,
I would love to see some photos of your work. Will look forward to seeing your post. Or you can email me them at dan (at) marcopolodesigns.com
Hi,
Sea glass is sharp broken glass that was worn smooth by the sea. The ocean has taken our trash and refined it into \”jewels\” Out Of The Blue Seaglass Jewelry proudly offers the largest online selection of sea glass jewelry that is made by hand. http://www.naturalseaglass.com
Sea Glass/Beach Glass Is Slowly Becoming Extremely Difficult To Locate. With The Great Efforts and Success Of Recycling, The Oceans Of The World are being cleaned. Sea Glass/Beach Glass Is To Me, Natures Gems Of The Sea, which we create into unique jewelry
designs to offer to others. There is something very special about finding these lost treasures. These natural beauties from the sea are transformed into works of art by many.
I’m in Houston, Texas and were looking for green conflict free ring for my fiancee and found two local companies in Texas. Green Karat and Green ORO, i went to their respective websites i.e http://www.greenkarat.com and http://www.greenoro.com. I found the prices on Green ORO much more reasonable then Green Karat. I save over $ 500 by buying from Green ORO as they are the direct manufacturers of Green Jewelry.
Few things i found and personally visited:
You can visit their physical Location and Showroom and can see the Green Process
Pros and Cons:
Green Karat
1) Pros:
Green Karat: been in business and internet for long years
Cons:
1) Higher Prices
2) No In house retail showroom or store
3) Green Karat ETA time is much more then Green ORO
4) Don’t offer high end created diamond settings or jewelry repairs
5) No Physical Location to visit , everything is Online
Green ORO:
Pros:
1) Reasonable and Cheaper Prices then Green Karat
2) Direct Manufacturer and willing to work with you on Custom Jewelry
3) Repairs are much faster on all green jewelry
4) no outsourcing to any middle man , everything is done within their showroom and have work labs
5) ORO Certificate of Authenticity to Back 100% recycled gold and process.
6) One Tree & One Ring at a Time – i really love this concept as they will put one tree towards the purchase i made. Highly impressed with their unique concept.
7) ETA is much less then Green Karat
Sea Glass Jewelry by Danielle Renee’ offers an extensive line of eco friendly jewelry. Beautiful to wear and made by hand with out drilling or solder. Utilizing glass trash picked up along the coastlines of the globe and converting it into one of a kind sea glass jewelry art.
By The Sea Jewelry specializes in hand picked sea glass from around the world….Recycled By The Sea, Sea Glass is a reverse gem, made by man and discarded into the ocean then refined by nature. Naturally recycled by time and waves.
By The Sea Jewelry has been featured in FC GOVS Green Holiday Guide and 50 Simple Steps to Save the Earth from Global Warming.
For the largest online selection of artisan sea glass jewelry on the Internet visit http://www.bytheseajewelry.com and see our Eco statement at http://www.bytheseajewelry.com/about/recycle.php
Recycled doesn’t have to look second hand either! I create sea glass jewelry where the glass is set like gemstones in unique designs – the glass is not drilled or wire wrapped. I strive to create truly elegant Sea Glass Jewelry by Juliet Chase .
It is wonderful to see all of this recycled art and jewelry. Make sure you visit our site for lots of information on natural sea glass and to view a colorful array of authentic eco friendly sea glass jewelry Vist our web page at http://www.jewelrybydaniellerenee.com.
And for information on how to Identify a Sea Glass Shard. http://www.jewelrybydaniellerenee.com/page/IdentifyingaSeaGlassShard
Beach/Sea glass is one of the more difficult glass pieces to locate these days. This seems to be due to the following reason: littering is becoming more frowned upon, glass items are being converted to their cheaper counter part (plastics), and people are searching for sea glass more than ever!
Dan @ Venetian
Glass Jewelry
There is still a lot of sea glass to be found on the west coast of Puerto Rico. The waves here are huge in the winter and they’re constantly turning up a new supply. There are also lots of local artisans who make it into jewelry. Some of it can be found at Caribe Colors