Best Eco-Jewelry Gift Guide for the Frugal Fashionista
Check our list twice: We found fashion & accessories for even the most discerning ecoista. Now through New Year’s, EcoStiletto’s Best Eco-Style Gift Guide showcases our Best of 2010 favorites at 25% off—or more—in EcoStiletto SHOP. Part Two of Five.
Diamonds and gold are at the top of many holiday wish lists, but it’s a dirty little secret in the jewelry industry that mining for those materials exploits children and destroys 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 jewelry made from recycled metals with conflict-free stones that’s so inexpensive you can afford to gift everyone on your list!
Every girl needs the perfect pair of hoops, and Tumbleweed Bead Co. has them in every shape and size crafted from recycled metals, natch, at prices as low as $23. But it’s their cocktail rings that are the real show-stoppers: Chunky cut amethysts, turquoise and—our favorite, shown above—smokey quartz are wrapped in silver and gold wire to create gorgeous over-sized rings that are as at home at a black tie event as they are at brunch. And here’s the kicker: They range from $48 to $58!
Liza Shtromberg‘s designs are more classically traditional, but their value is just as impressive: Recycled silver rings set with semi-precious, conflict-free stones like garnet or peridot for as low as $115. Yes, you read that right.
Now, wouldn’t you rather your jewelry symbolized a commitment to your ideals rather than civil war, child slavery and environmental destruction? We would.
Now through 12.31.10, get 25% off on all Fahmina and reBagz products in EcoStiletto SHOP with “ecoholiday” at checkout. Want more? Take a look at the gorgeous upcycled fashions we featured last week!
