Dirty Gold...

OMG! Gold mining is one of the dirtiest types of mining out there! Until I started researching for this blog, I didn’t know this. It is estimated that the production of one, I repeat, ONE, gold ring creates 20 TONS of mining waste! Most modern gold is mined in open strip mines and many such mines have displaced whole communities. The process itself creates horrendous leach fields of toxic waste. Then the gold is sent to smelters for separation where it releases tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. There must be a way around this! There is… use recycled gold to create your perfect ring! There really is a market for that old gold they keep advertising for on television. For more info on gold mining, check out www.dirtygold.org.

You may have gold that you can have recycled or you can talk to your local reputable jeweler to help you find a source. It is possible that you may find it is cheaper to have a local jeweler or jewelry craft person to create your unique, one of a kind, recycled gold band. It will take some work but the benefits for the earth and your conscious are going to make the work worthwhile.

One such alternative is a link I found on the dirty gold site. It is for wooden wedding rings, some plain, some with inlays. Here is the link: www.simplywoodrings.com There are many other jewelers who make wooden rings but I thought these were worth a look. I found some links to titanium rings and looked into them… They seem to suffer the same ecological impact as sold and silver… major pollution in the mining process. A disappointment since I was looking for some other alternatives. So, I will keep looking. If anyone knows of any alternatives, leave a comment and I will include them in the blog (after I make sure about the impact).