How An Increased Interest In The Environment Is Changing The Jewellery Industry

In recent years, it is a well-known fact that the world is facing many problems in terms of pollution. The jewellery industry damages the environment massively. Especially when it comes to mining gemstones and other raw materials.

Now, changes are being made around the world, including in the jewellery industry. However, it isn’t just about the gas emissions that are being pumped into the earth’s atmosphere. It can also be about whether or not the materials have been mined ethically. If you have watched Blood Diamond, you will understand what we mean.

What Is Eco-Friendly Jewellery

There isn’t much that can be done when it comes to mining raw materials. In 2019, around 19,500 tons of CO2 was produced into the world’s atmosphere. In the year 2000, 28,700 tons of CO2 was produced so it is an improvement. Nonetheless, that is still a lot of CO2 that is produced and damaging the world.

That number is slowly decreasing but not quick enough. There are a couple of ways that the jewellery industry has changed to make sure that gas emissions are reduced.

Recycled Jewellery

A study in the United States of America found that metal mining is the biggest contributor to toxic pollution. This is the reason why so many companies are looking at recycling materials that have already been mined in the past. Recycling has been the way forward for many years now with plastic. Now, it is time to recycle metals that have already been mined as well.

Recycling is a definite way to make sure that eco-friendliness is promoted. More and more jewellery brands are putting it out there that they are recycling already mined materials. Additionally, Gold is one of those materials where it can be recycled and not lose any of its quality. As you will know, Gold is one of the most popular materials out there when it comes to jewellery.

Vintage jewellery is also becoming exceedingly popular. It is safe to say it is some of the best jewellery that you can ever see as well. There are many couples out there that like the fact of buying vintage engagement rings for their partner—ensuring that they are doing their bit in saving the environment.

Lab-Grown Gemstones

These have also become popular in the last 5-10 years. Mass mining has had massive effects on the environment. Now, they are producing gemstones inside labs to counterweight that pollution. Despite the labs cutting down the gas emissions that mining produces, they still produce a lot of carbon dioxide.

There are many labs out there that produce these lab-created gemstones and say that it is environmentally friendly. This is because it still uses a lot of gas and coal to produce lab-created gemstones. Organisations are demanding that these labs show evidence that the gemstones are eco-friendly.

What Else Can Be Done?

It seems like the jewellery industry so far hasn’t found a way to be eco-friendly efficiently. One thing that is certain though is that they are mined more ethically compared to previous years. However, more can be done. Introducing blockchain technology.

Blockchain technology is something that is used to track where gemstones have been mined. It can also show where they are being sold and at what price. This will impact the decision of those that will be looking to purchase jewellery. If a gemstone has been mined ethically or in an eco-friendly way, consumers will consider not purchasing that product. Technology will be the way forward for driving sustainable customer behaviour.

One company that has encouraged the idea of the blockchain-based system is DeBeers. They have introduced Tracr which tracks diamonds. It manages to track where the diamond was mined and also where it is distributed in the world to jewellers that will be selling the product.

To Conclude

The jewellery industry is very new to the idea of ethically mined gemstones and producing jewellery in an eco-friendly way. Nonetheless, changes are being made within the jewellery industry to encourage vintage jewellery to be sold around the world. As soon as the jewellery industry stops mass mining gemstones and other materials, the planet will be much better.