Fair Trade vs. Recycled Gold: Which Is Better?
Founder of Fair Jewelry Action, USA
As fair trade gold begins to enter the US market, those consumers interested in finding the best possible sources for their wedding rings will face the choice between fair trade versus recycled gold. Though fair trade gold costs a little bit more, I feel it is a better choice for anyone interested in environmental sustainability and community empowerment in small communities around the world.
Jewelry made from recycled metal is a good step. My company converted our supply to 100% recycled metals as soon as it became possible. Going recycled did not cost more. By offering 'renewed metal' to consumers concerned about the environment, I could call myself 'eco-friendly.' It remains the best option available to many jewelers who share our humanistic values.
Yet, no matter how much recycled jewelry I sold, it did not improve the conditions of the small scale miners around the world or reduce the nefarious impact that large mining companies have on communities and the environment. In some respect, the very marketing of recycled metal jewelry as 'sustainable' or 'eco-friendly', hides an element of the gold story by implying the customer in his purchase is impacting the environmental and social atrocities associated with the precious metal supply chain.
Some jewelers believe if we all used recycled metals, it would impact the mining industry. I disagree. Precious metals are going to continue to be in high demand for investment purposes. Even if recycled metals in jewelry production was widely adopted in the US and EU, mining operations are going to continue. The greatest benefit of recycled metal is that it allows a traceable supply chain and raises the awareness of issues related to sourcing to the consumer.
Beyond Sustainability
In our current economic model, we often talk about 'sustainability' and strive to find alternatives to reduce our impact. I am more interested in increasing our impact on community and environment — but in the right direction. It is important, in the beginning, to have some idea of the end. When I started Fair Jewelry Action with my colleague Greg Valerio, we came up with this Vision Statement for a future state:
"We see now that the Small Scale miner is living a prosperous, beautiful life. With the sale of his gems and precious metal, he clothes, shelters, feeds and educates his family. His children play in the village, feeling safe, singing songs. The elders are honored and involved in projects to support language and local craft. The water is pure. Funds are set aside to restore the mined land back to agricultural use. Fields of grain, orchids and trees, abundant with fruit surround these villages, where wildlife coexist in abundance and grace.... Even companies that pillaged ecosystems and human communities are now investing money in massive restoration projects throughout the world…"
This is a big dream with many steps. To look toward this future without considering the present is naive. We live in a time when for some, it is easier to imagine the destruction of the life systems of Earth than to hope for a beautiful future. Mining corporations will always be driven by profit first and small scale miners will do what they need to survive regardless of their impact to themselves and their environment. Yet fair trade gold, fair trade jewelry and other small, emerging initiatives are new seeds sprouting from the ashes.
They will form a parallel economic approach that can allow us use our economic power to rebuild, to regenerate and support an interconnected world. Fair trade gold is therefore a far more powerful commitment to the world we want to see than recycled gold.
To see the change we want will take a miracle. It will take all of us working together. Now is the time and we are the ones we have been waiting for. By making your ring out of fair trade gold, and supporting ethical jewelers, you can help make the world we dream of.
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