Responsible Jewelry Shines Brighter

July 15, 2008
By Carol Lane

You already consider the environmental impact of many of the things you buy. So when a special occasion arises and you’re considering a jewelry purchase, why not do the same? Here are the issues to factor into your choice.

Natural and Human Elements

Natural resources are the building blocks of any piece of fine jewelry. Gold, silver and gemstones must be extracted from the earth through mining, which impacts the environment. In addition, the fair and ethical treatment of the individuals who are employed throughout the entire process is being looked at with increasing scrutiny.


Gold Mining Processes and Improvements

Gold mining processes can have a considerable environmental impact, both from the extraction of the raw material from the Earth and the extraction of gold from the ore. Cyanide, employed at large scale commercial mining operations, and mercury, favored by informal small-scale miners, are the two most commonly used chemicals. Both can filter into the surrounding ground, water and air if not properly contained.

Today, the mining industry is working toward improved practices that promote sustainability and minimize impact. The International Council on Mining & Metals, a CEO-led group that promotes raising standards across the industry, has created a list of 10 principles for improved sustainability in the mining and minerals sector. These principles range from integrating sustainable development considerations within the corporate decision-making process to upholding fundamental human rights and respecting cultures, customs and values of those affected by mining activities.

Several large mining companies are making innovative changes to improve their performance. Newmont Mining Corporation, for example, was a founding member of the International Council on Mining and Metals. And Rio Tinto’s Kennecott Utah Copper Bingham Mine does not use cyanide or mercury. It is also doing much more to lessen the impact of its processes such as generating much of its own power, recycling water many times over, and recovering metals from materials that were once wasted.

LEARN MORE: The mining industry is lessening its impact and conserving resources.


Diamonds and the Kimberley Process

The term “conflict diamonds” refers to stones that originate from parts of Africa controlled by forces opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments. The revenue from these diamonds is used to fund military action in opposition to those governments.

Working closely with the United Nations, governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) the diamond industry has developed the Kimberley Process Certification System. This system guards against conflict diamonds entering the legitimate diamond supply chain. The diamond industry also adopted a voluntary System of Warranties to assure consumers that their diamonds are from sources free of conflict.

Today, 74 governments have made the Kimberley Process Certification System national law, and now more than 99 percent of the world's diamonds are from conflict-free sources. The diamond industry continues to work to strengthen the Kimberley Process and the System of Warranties.


Before You Shop

When you begin to consider a jewelry purchase, there are several steps you can take to help ensure you’re making a socially responsible, environmentally friendly choice.

Ask questions: Often, businesses won’t alter their policies until their customers demand it. Tell retailers that you’re concerned about the environmental impacts of the jewelry you buy, and that you want to see documentation of their policies. Ask where stones and metals come from, and request proof. Ask about the store’s own environmental policies, which can be indicative of the importance it places on larger environmental issues.

Choose a retailer with an established policy: Many large retailers are taking positive steps to ensure the jewelry they sell is responsible, from mine to shelf. Wal-Mart, the world’s leading retailer of jewelry recently introduced the Love,EarthTM product line, which is fully traceable. The line is part of a Wal-Mart initiative to achieve 100 percent traceability for all of the gold, silver and diamond jewelry sold at its stores.

Consider recycled jewelry: Vintage jewelers offer countless choices for a memorable purchase, with no additional impact on the planet. More and more smaller manufacturers are using recycled metals and gemstones in new pieces.
Today’s environmentally conscious jewelry shopper has more information and resources at hand than ever before. Those resources, combined with improvements made by the mining, manufacturing, and retailing industries, are making it easier to ensure your next jewelry purchase is rooted in compassion and respect for the planet.

READ MORE: From Source to Shelf: The Emergence of the Green Supply Chain

http://www.conservation.org/FMG/Articles/Pages/responsible_jewelry_shines_brighter_walmart.aspx

Bike Sharing Program Launched in Mexico City

TreeHugger, July 18, 2008

Determined to prove its not a just a smog-addled city notorious for traffic and pollution, Mexico City had jumped on the bike-sharing bandwagon and launched its own free program called Mejor En Bici (Spanish link), or Better On Bicycle in English.

We love the jewel-toned wheels of the Mejor en Bici white cruisers, which are available at three sites in the Condesa and Roma neighborhoods, the city's hipster and eco-friendly stomping grounds. To use the bikes, users must register, sign a form, and leave a piece of identification and a deposit of 200 pesos (about $20), which is returned when the bike is dropped off at the same station. The bikes are available from Tuesday to Sunday 10 am to 6 pm.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/07/mexico-bike-sharing.php

Electrifying News!

Mitsubishi's i MiEV Electric Car is Ahead of Schedule
A couple months ago, we got our hands on Mitsubishi's roadmap for its i MiEV electric car. The plan was to lease a few units to fleet customers first in 2009 and then launch it in 2010 (with a focus on Japan, but also in North-America and Europe), but reality is turning out better than even the optimists thought.

Japanese Launch: Summer 2009
The new plan is to launch the retail version of the i MiEV electric car in Japan in the summer of 2009. The reasons are "smoother-than-expected" preparations for mass-production and, as we can imagine, the increased demand generated by skyrocketing oil prices. There's really nothing like an economic incentive to focus the mind.

i MiEV Electric Car Specifications
The i MiEV is powered by a compact 47 kW electric motor (133 lb-ft of torque) and a 330V, 16 kWh lithium-ion battery pack from Lithium Energy Japan (LEJ). LEJ is a joint venture of GS Yuasa Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC). Top speed of the i MiEV is 130 kph (81 mph), with a range of up to 160 km (100 miles) in the Japanese 10-15 cycle driving conditions.

Mitsubishi Motors intends to set the price for the i MiEV at around 4 million yen. But government subsidies for low-emission vehicles are likely to reduce the actual retail price to an estimated 3 million yen [US$28,000].

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/07/mitsubishi-i-miev-electric-car-launch-japan-2009.php

Wave Powered Boat: Free Energy from the Oceans

Treehugger presented in February a story about a wave powered boat and its sailor (Heinichi Horie), who had the guts to go from Honolulu to Japan on a 4,800 miles trip, with a boat powered solely by the waves. Today he finished his trip, according to Associated Press.

The wave powered boat is called “Suntory Mermaid II”. It has a speed of 5 knots, which is three times slower than traditional diesel powered boats. With some improvement in the wave-propulsion technology and combining it with wind sailing we can hope that it will become competitive with fossil fuels-powered boats.



Here’s a quick description of the way this boat works:

“Two fins mounted side by side beneath the bow move up and down with the incoming waves and generate dolphin-like kicks that propel the boat forward. “Waves are a negative factor for a ship—they slow it down,” says Yutaka Terao, an engineering professor at Tokai University in Japan who designed the boat’s propulsion system. “But the Suntory can transform wave energy into propulsive power regardless of where the wave comes from.”


The Japanese sailor, Horie, says the trip was the world’s longest solo voyage in a wave-powered boat.He also says he took his time because the sea was calm and the weather was beautiful. The 69 year-old sailor isn’t at his first attempt to go green with sailing, because in 1992 he pedaled a boat from Hawaii to Okinawa in southern Japan. And that’s not all: in 1996 he sailed nearly 10,000 miles from Ecuador to Tokyo aboard a solar-powered boat made from recycled aluminum beer cans. So this achievement was only the latest brave green story for him.

Volkswagen to Make Limited Edition of 1-Liter Car (282 MPG!) in 2010

VW's 282 MPG Super Fuel Efficient Car
The 1-Liter car has been around in prototype form since 2002 and greens everywhere have been drooling at its 282 miles per gallon fuel economy (or 1 liter of gasoline per 100 kilometers, hence the name). VW has finally decided to make more and sell them, and a limited edition (estimated in the thousands) should start selling in 2010.

1-Liter Car Technical Specs
The One-Liter car (or 1-Litre, over in Europe) weights only 660 pounds. The body is made from carbon composites and it is shaped to be extremely slippery, giving it a coefficient of drag of only 0.16 ("the average car comes in around 0.30 and the Honda Insight had a Cd of 0.25"). The prototype was powered by a 1-cylinder diesel engine, but the production model should have a 2-cylinder diesel (which means it could be powered by algae-biodiesel!), and maybe even a stop-start anti-idling feature (to cut the engine when the car is stopped).

The car reportedly has anti-lock brakes, stability control and airbags. According to Canadian Driver, "Volkswagen says the One-Liter Car is as safe as a GT sports car registered for racing. With the aid of computer crash simulations, the car was designed with built-in crash tubes, pressure sensors for airbag control and front crumple zones."

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/07/vw-282-mpg-1-one-liter-car-production-2010.php

New Paltz, NY goes organic

Public spaces in New Paltz, a rural community 90 miles north of New York City, are going organic, reports the local Times Herald Record. While elimination of the use of synthetic chemicals by law must be limited to Village property, Alice Andrews, an environmental commission member and the organizer of a task force on organics that advocated the measure, "hopes that residents will follow suit and stop treating their lawns with inorganic chemicals". Andrews and other residents would have preferred legislation banning or severely restricting pesticide use for all properties in the jurisdiction, but as in most other states, pesticide pre-emption law prohibits the Village from regulating pesticides beyond its own property. "'What we've decided is to try every other angle, especially education,'" Andrews said. The task force made posters asking residents to sign a petition on myspace.com advocating that Ulster County ban pesticides. She wants the New Paltz Website to provide pesticide education, aiming for "'social pressure' to 'do what formal legislation can't.'" The New Paltz action is similar to reforms spreading in towns and cities across North America, from San Francisco's pioneering 1996 IPM program to Maine's defeat of pre-emption last year, and the even more rapid adoption of cosmetic pesticide bans from British Columbia to Nova Scotia in Canada.

http://www.panna.org/resources/panups/panup_20080703#8

New Paltz, NY goes organic

Public spaces in New Paltz, a rural community 90 miles north of New York City, are going organic, reports the local Times Herald Record. While elimination of the use of synthetic chemicals by law must be limited to Village property, Alice Andrews, an environmental commission member and the organizer of a task force on organics that advocated the measure, "hopes that residents will follow suit and stop treating their lawns with inorganic chemicals". Andrews and other residents would have preferred legislation banning or severely restricting pesticide use for all properties in the jurisdiction, but as in most other states, pesticide pre-emption law prohibits the Village from regulating pesticides beyond its own property. "'What we've decided is to try every other angle, especially education,'" Andrews said. The task force made posters asking residents to sign a petition on myspace.com advocating that Ulster County ban pesticides. She wants the New Paltz Website to provide pesticide education, aiming for "'social pressure' to 'do what formal legislation can't.'" The New Paltz action is similar to reforms spreading in towns and cities across North America, from San Francisco's pioneering 1996 IPM program to Maine's defeat of pre-emption last year, and the even more rapid adoption of cosmetic pesticide bans from British Columbia to Nova Scotia in Canada.

http://www.panna.org/resources/panups/panup_20080703#8