Never mine.

Kwadjo and I were excited to get our wedding rings the other day. We love them! We chose them from greenKarat.com, makers of "ecologically responsible jewelry." Their goal is to end destructive diamond and gold mining. And to do so they "provide an ecologically and socially responsible jewelry alternative to those who seek change."

Gold is a very versatile metal. It is malleable and ductile. It’s a good conductor of heat and electricity, immune to tarnish, and resistant to acids. Although these properties make it very useful in industrial applications, 80% of the gold used each year nonetheless goes into jewelry.

While gold is valuable enough to provide an incentive to recycle, significant amounts of gold sit idle, while mining continues at a pace of 2,500 tons a year. In fact, there is enough gold above ground (already mined) to satisfy all demands of the jewelry industry for the next 50 years. Much of it sits in bank vaults and in the form of old and unused jewelry.

So our beautiful gold rings (which we can't wait to put on next month) are recycled. Your next jewelry purchase can be too. GreenKarat sells rings for weddings and commitments and jewelry that is a "responsible indulgence." Check out their standards and catalog. And once you get your jewelry, verify the content on greeenassay.com. You'll love your jewelry even more by knowing that the gold and gems were obtained in an ecologically responsible manner and are conflict free.

Thanks greenKarat!

"We therefore call on Newmont [Ghana Gold Limited] to stop its disastrous forays into the forest reserve, provide the people of Yayaaso with alternate drinking water, pay prompt adequate and reasonable compensation for destroyed farms and also build the same number of rooms for the affected landlords in order to avoid the break up of families. Newmont should avoid undertaking activities that would destroy sacred burial grounds and respect the traditional cultures of affected communities.

In conclusion, we are concerned about the fact that the community problems and the attitude of Newmont even at the construction stage in Ghana, would produce the same negative impacts on affected communities and the environment as had occurred in Indonesia, Peru, Romania  and Nevada." - Daniel Owusu-Koranteng of Wassa Association of Communities Affected By Mining and Mike Anane of League of Environmental Journalists. (2005) Accra, Ghana*