Are you a little tired of your jewelry assortment and need a few fresh pieces? Thanks to the Internet, you can enrich your jewelry box without ever leaving your house and get amazing pieces delivered right to your doorstep.
However, this type of doing business can create fast fashion, a lot of waste and provide you with jewelry made with low-quality materials and produced by people working in unhealthy conditions for an unfair wage.
Many jewelry being sold in the market were mined in gigantic open mine, which of course involve destruction of nature and huge carbon footprints. Of course it will bring negative impacts to the environment, that will not only harm our planet but also us.
But do we really have any other options to begin with?
How Harmful Can Jewelry Be?
The negative impacts vary starting from land erosion, leakage of harmful chemicals that can harm water supply, even alteration or total destruction of ecosystem. But all of those things usually do not occur until several years of mining operation, which make people usually overlook it.
That’s why, most of us seem like we don’t really care about whether our jewelries are ethical and sustainable or not. While our ignorance is money for the companies, and indeed most jewelry companies only care about the money they can get.
However, not all jewelry companies share the same evilness. If you want to be guilt-free about your interest in jewelry, we actually have options away from all those evilness. Here are a few options for us who want to treat ourselves with more sustainable and ethical jewelry.
If you don’t want to contribute to pollution or unethical practices, check some of these jewelry brands you can wear guilt-free. And while checking the brands we mention below, make sure to put your credit cards away. You have been warned about their eco-friendly and ethical beauty.
Ten Thousand Villages Jewelry
This company has been supplying the world with ethical jewelry for over 70 years. Ten Thousand Villages is a pioneer in the fair-trade movement laying the groundwork for sustainability and ethical change in 30+ countries by providing women with employment and empowerment opportunities.
All their products are created by small groups of artisans, co-ops and workshops, using local materials, carefully nurtured skills and a lot of love.
Nisolo
Nisolo is a company that collaborates with artisans and local artists from Peru, Mexico and Kenya in order to produce exquisite jewelry creations.
This Nashville-based brand works with artisans throughout the entire production process, from design to actual production, while also providing people with fair wages and excellent working conditions.
Nisolo produces timeless, high-quality products, but it’s also highly socially driven, which means they promise respect, dignity and fair pay to all their workers.
AND, they also work with like-minded brands by creating an “ethical marketplace” on their website, so you can find a variety of sustainable products in one place.
Moon Magic Jewelry
If you’re into gemstones and mystical, delicate jewelry, Moon Stone is a brand made for you. However, they not only offer stunning and delicate pieces, but they also have strong brand values which focus on ethical and sustainable production.
All of their diamonds are 100% conflict-free and they regularly collaborate with organizations dedicated to environmental protection. What you also need to know about their vision is the fact that they believe every woman has the right to feel beautiful and own jewelry of her own.
This is why all of their pieces are made available world-wide and priced fairly. Also, their exclusively-online operation allows them to keep costs low and provide customers with affordable products.
Catbird
You might’ve even seen this brand on Instagram lately since their products are beloved by influencers, celebrities and models, and for all the best reasons.
They produce cute little pieces from recycled materials and all of the jewelry is handmade locally in New York City. They are also great supporters of the living wage movement and contribute 1% of their yearly sales income to various charities.
With all of those things they do, what’s there not to like?
Sandy Leong
If you’re looking for a luxury yet sustainable and ethical jewelry brand, look no further than Sandy Leong. Every piece of her jewelry is produced with recycled 18 carat gold and conflict-free gemstones.
The entire production process is executed in New York in collaboration with transparent manufactures who create elevated yet eco-friendly results.
Arlokea
This brand just launched its production and it’s great to see more and more new brands emerging with their ethical practices and sustainable production.
Arlokea’s goal is to tackle social and ethical issues concerning poverty, education and health through provocative yet ethical fashion.
Every purchase allows you to contribute to people making a change in their communities in Vietnam and Ecuador. Additionally, they are committed to using eco-friendly and recycled materials, so it’s a win-win situation for everyone involved.
Guilt Free Jewelry Trend
Last but not least, jewelry is part of fashion, and fashion grows with trend. Consumers are the ones hold the power to control the trend, and thus we are the agent of change. If we can make eco-friendly and ethical jewelry a trend, we can control the market, and finally the industry.
Luckily, we are now living in the age of information, so that we can just search other jewelry companies that share the same view with us about the nature. We have the technology and the option to support the betterment of our industry, and what we need now is just to practice it.
We can see that there are indeed so many options, and of course what we mentioned above are just a few of many. All those mentioned above are brands which have proven themselves that their practice can be more ethical and eco-friendly compared to conventional jewelry companies.
Being eco-friendly doesn’t mean that we are limiting ourselves. Treating yourself with some new jewelry doesn’t have to cross with your sustainable and ethical lifestyle. Check out those brands and you’ll see that beauty and fashion can be eco-friendly and ethical!
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