How to Choose an Eco-Friendly Wedding Ring

As glittery and bright as the shine of jewels may be, they often conceal a grim and harrowing production process behind them. What makes jewelry so expensive is its creation with highly precious stones and metals. This means these metals and gems are hard to come by in nature and take decades to form. But if that’s the case, how do we have an abundance of high-end jewelry and wedding rings to buy whenever we want? 

This is because a continuous and laborious process of over-mining and unethical practices goes into sourcing these metals. This not only destroys natural habits and accelerates environmental degradation, but it also creates extremely dangerous working conditions for miners, who are often children from impoverished countries. So, how do you choose an eco-friendly wedding ring and drop out of the cycle of harm?

Environmental and human rights activists have been sensitizing people about these unethical mining practices for metals for decades, and the campaigns have proved fruitful.  We see many people consciously decide to shift to eco-friendly wedding rings and recycled metals for their jewels. Especially when it comes to jewels for auspicious events like weddings, it is necessary to spread blessings and good deeds that strive to make changes in mining for precious stones and metals.

Understanding Eco-Friendly Materials

It’s a known fact that extracting metals and stones from nature is a highly laborious and time-consuming process. Elements like gold and platinum take years to form in river beds and the Earth’s crust. Stones like diamonds, on the other hand, take billions of years to form under extremely high pressure. Mining for them inevitably damages the natural environment through unwanted industrialization and contamination of surrounding areas. At the same time, they endanger the ecosystem and the lives of workers.

That’s why one of the more viewable and non-exploitative alternatives is choosing lab-grown gemstones, diamonds, and other gems like Moissanite that have minimal environmental adverse effects.

1. Moissanite: Much like diamond,  this stone occurs naturally in the Earth’s upper mantle and on meteorites. You also find it hidden in the inclusions of diamonds, lamporite, kimberlite, etc. However,  as a highly rare stone, it is extremely difficult to find and extract in nature. As a result, Moissanite is mostly grown in the lab today, reducing its environmental impact. It is a silicone carbide discovered about 120 years ago in a crater in Arizona by Henri Moissan. Initially, he mistook the brilliant mineral for a diamond for its shine. Only later did he realize it was a silicone carbide and not a single element carbon like diamond. This proves how closely Moissanite- named after Henri- resembles a diamond. 
2. Lab-grown diamonds: Did you know that all our present stores of diamonds are as old as the Earth? Diamonds take anywhere between 1 to 3.3 billion years to form naturally. Carbon must be crystallized at extremely high temperatures and pressure to form natural diamonds. Lab-grown diamonds, however, create these conditions artificially in controlled spaces, which can create diamonds in 2 to 4 weeks, which is certainly an improvement in billions of years.
3. Lab-grown colored gemstones: The color of gems is a large part of what makes them precious. For instance, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, etc., are coveted because such vibrant, naturally occurring gemstones take years to form under highly specific conditions. 

However, similar to lab-grown diamonds, it is possible to tinker with the color of other gems, too. This means less reliance on naturally occurring stones, pursuing restrictive extraction practices, and instead, creating colorful gemstones or altering the color of precious stones in the lab itself. 

Certifications to Look For

When you’re trying to find articles of jewelry that are ethically created, you need to look out for a couple of things:

1. Fair trade: This implies that the jewels that you purchase have been made through raw materials that are ethically sourced and that sustainable materials for wedding rings are used. This means good working conditions for miners, proper wages, and maintenance of strict regulations regarding material consumption.
2. Kimberley Process: There are instances where diamonds are mined in war zones and used for funding atrocities like war, violence, and insurgency. They are also filled with exploitative practices such as child labor. This is where the KP establishes a resolution mandated by the United Nations General Assembly preventing “conflicted” or “blood diamonds” from entering the commercial market. Having a Kimberley Process accreditation or KPCS attests that the diamonds are not blood diamonds. 

Sustainable Practices

As previously discussed, we must keep an eye out for sustainable engagement rings to be more conscious of the potential for harm that our purchasing power holds. We can instead direct this power in the way of:

1. Lab-grown gemstones give you greater clarity and control over the final look of the stones on your wedding ring. They are also devoid of inclusion, far more cost-effective, and less environmentally invasive.
2. Moissanite is a great diamond replacement composed of silicon carbide. It is extremely durable, making it perfect for different kinds of cuts, clarity, and colors in jewelry. You can curate the exact look of the gem and get higher carats at effective prices.
3. Lab-grown diamonds are one of the best ways to wash yourself of unethical mining practices and alienated labor conditions. Not only is it far more cost-effective and creates more accurate final pieces, but it also saves a large population of marginalized folx from inhumane working conditions. 

Choosing a Sustainable Jeweler

So, how can you tell that your atelier is following ethical jewelry practices of sourcing raw materials for their collection? There are a few pointers that come in handy.

1. They should be transparent about where their metals and jewels come from. This includes the exact location and the organization under which the mining and extractions take place. They should not only disclose the miners’ working conditions but also ensure they are paid proper wages and have comfortable working conditions.
2. They should provide you with lab alternatives of naturally occurring gemstones for your wedding bands.
3. They utilize recycled metal for the body of their jewels instead of solely relying on mining for more. 

Conclusion

In all, choosing sustainable wedding ring brands goes a long way in making the event more auspicious and reducing the overall harm posed to the environment and miners. This kind of practice and awareness needs to be adopted widely by jewelers and ateliers to preserve the craft and the beauty of jewelry making. The first step in finding ethical jewelers for eco-friendly rings starts with having the right intention in your heart. After all, crafting something so timeless and emotionally significant should empower all the people and the environment that went into its creation.