2007 Archives: Brilliant Earth Conflict-Free, Sustainable Mined Diamonds
Diamonds are how we celebrate a commitment, but it’s a dirty little secret in the diamond and gold industries that mining practices exploit and degrade children, communities and the environment. Open-pit gold mining uses cyanide that contaminates land and drinking water and creates thirty tons of waste for each ounce of mined gold. The African diamond industry has funded civil wars that have killed close to five million people in the last 15 years. We’re not even going to talk about the human rights violations: child labor, state sanctioned violence and worker exploitation. Sound scary? It is. Want to support an alternative? Take a look at Brilliant Earth, a new collection of commitment-worthy jewelry made with conflict-free diamonds mined in environmentally sustainable Canadian mines, as well as gold and platinum recycled from jewelry or industrial products. The designs are traditional—pave, eternity, channel set—and you can design your own ring based on the type and size of diamond you choose. Plus five percent of each purchase goes to the Diamonds for Africa Fund, which gives back to those harmed by the diamond trade and is currently committed to raising $300,000 to benefit communities in Botswana, the Congo and Sierra Leone. Yes, prices are a wee bit more expensive. But wouldn’t you rather your ring symbolized commitment to your partner and your ideals rather than civil war, child slavery and environmental destruction? We do.
