How can shifting consumer habits support sustainable and socially

conscious business practices to combat the negative

socio-environmental effects of the jewelry industry?

Nellie Miller

Senior Project Advisor: Libby Cowels

Abstract
The negative social and environmental impacts of the jewelry industry impact millions of
peoples livelihoods and safety. Companies are not required to ensure the safety of the outsourced
labor and therefore exploitation is common with this industry. Since companies don’t take
responsibility and regulations in place are not adequate, change must be pushed from the
consumers side. Studying consumer trends in the industry can help to evaluate the relationship
between shifting consumer habits and businesses adopting sustainable and socially conscious
business practices. From existing research there is a positive relationship between increasing
consumer habits towards sustainable brands and an increase in brands leaning towards
sustainable business practices.

12th Grade Humanities

Animas High School

1 March, 2024
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 Part I: Introduction

"Nearly a year ago there was an accident and most of us were burned. I was carried home

by a man. It hurt very much because the skin was burnt off my face. I couldn't work for six

months” (Amgueddfa Cymru). This story comes from nine year old Phillip who worked as a

miner in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Sadly, Philip's story is similar to many other children from

different places around the world. It is estimated that over 1 million children work in the mining

industry worldwide, often mining gemstones and minerals like silver, gold that are used in

jewelry (World Vision Action). When buying a piece of fine jewelry the customer is often not

aware of the inhumane or cruel means in which the gemstone and minerals were acquired.

Businesses do not have to be transparent to their customers about the origins of their products;

they can hide any and all human right abuses or unsustainable practices behind attractive

advertisements.

However, businesses can not keep up with their secrets forever and customers are starting

to become suspicious. Customers' habits across many industries have started to lean towards

sustainability. Shifting customer behavior has created an initiative for companies to reflect on

their production practices and put in place changes within their policies and practices to

positively support the environmental and humanitarian health of our plant. Implementing

sustainable business practices not only attracts customers, but will help mitigate the various

environmental and social hardships created by the jewelry industry. Adopting sustainable and

socially conscious practices can increase profitability within the jewelry industry and therefore

adapting them behooves these businesses.

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 Part II: Historical Context/Background Knowledge

Jewelry Industry Historical Revenue

The jewelry industry is elite and highly competitive, and has seen significant growth in

the past two decades. Jewelry can be dated as far back as the early middle stone age when people

would make necklaces out of perforated shell beads in Morocco (Guinness world records).

Different cultures around the world soon started creating their own jewelry designs using

materials from their geographical locations. The world of jewelry only kept getting bigger. In the

United State, a major increase in interest occurred in 1948, when the brand De Beers’ was the

first to market diamond engagement rings and created the association between the eternal and

emotional value of love with diamonds (Ghosh). In 1939 only 10% of American brides received

a diamond engagement ring, while in 1990 more than 80% of them wore diamonds on their ring

finger (Ghosh). At this time jewelry shifted from a luxury good, only viewed as accessible by the

very wealthy, to a more common good that could be afforded by a larger population.

An increase in customer base caused an increase in jewelry sales, especially for diamond

jewelry, which is directly reflected in the increase of revenue in the jewelry industry over time.

In 1980 the jewelry industry was worth $12 billion, and only 20 years later, in 2000 it had grown

to $42 billion (from graph). In 2024 it is estimated that the industry is valued at $353.26 billion

(Grand View Research). It's not hard to see why the industry is worth so much when the product

is so diverse and can be very expensive. It is estimated that “jewelry has grown 138% in value

over the last decade – only outperformed by classic cars, rare coins, and fine wine” (Ghosh). Not

only has jewelry become more popular, especially diamond jewelry, but it has also become one

of the most highly valued goods.

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 With a large and expansive market, the jewelry industry creates many impacts on the

environment and the people it involves. Mineral mining is particularly problematic because it can

often be associated with human rights violations, pollution, and environmental destruction. These

negative effects stem from companies wanting to cut production costs in order to maximize

profits, and by hiding the negative effects of production from the consumer, businesses continue

to negatively affect the people and environments they draw resources from. As businesses look

to improve their policies and practices, a shift towards sustainability and social consciousness is

necessary.

History of Sustainable Practices

The idea of jewelry that has low environmental and social impacts is not a new concept,

and has come in many forms over the years. There are many terms to describe low impact

jewelry, however the best term is socially responsible jewelry. Social responsibility encompasses

the ideas of fair trade like fair wages for miners, as well as sustainability and environmental

impact (Heebner, 2). Broadly, sustainability can be defined as the ability to meet present day

needs while ensuring the ability of the next generation to meet their own needs. Jewelers who are

socially responsible would ensure they are using recycled or eco-friendly materials in the

production of their products as well as ensuring the people who mined and refined the minerals

were treated and paid fairly. Socially responsible jewelers may also use fair-mined gold and

silver, which is responsibly sourced from small scale artisanal mining communities and is backed

by third-party certifications that prove the gold and silver was responsibly sourced with social

development and environmental protection taken into consideration (Valley rose). Sourcing from

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sellers with fair-mined certified minerals is the only way businesses can ensure their customers

receive a “clean” piece of jewelry.

Similarly to fair minded gold and silver many certificates exist for diamonds to ensure

different standards of practice. One sustainability development is the “SCS-007 Jewelry

Sustainability Standard-sustainability rated diamonds, the first comprehensive, multi-stakeholder

sustainability standard developed for the diamond sector” (SCS). This certification process can

be applied to both natural and lab made diamonds and establishes benchmarks for performance

and transparency in sustainability and social responsibility. When companies participate in the

SCS-007 they gain the accreditation to put a certified sustainability rated diamond ecolabel on

their products and are able to market their products as sustainable in advertisements and

webpages. This can open up a company to a new customer market focused on sustainable goods

which could mean more sales and increased customer interaction (SCS).

If jewelers want an alternative to mined gems, they can source lab grown gems and

diamonds. Scientists mimic the natural method of diamond formation using either chemical

vapor deposition or extreme pressure and heat processes applied to pure carbon over the course

of 6 to 10 weeks to produce a man made diamond (Butcher). Lab made diamonds are cheaper

than natural diamonds, and have decreased the price of diamond jewelry. Fair-mined minerals,

SCS certified diamonds, and lab made diamonds are all great alternatives for companies to

mitigate negative social and environmental impacts from their business.

Part 3: Research and Analysis

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Jewelry Industries Negative Social Impacts:

Impacts on Miners

The jewelry industry has been associated with various social issues throughout time,

many corresponding to human rights violations. One of the worst violations within the industry

is the large amount of child labor, which occurs when outsourcing gemstones from small-scale or

artisanal mines in commonly poor areas. Child labor is commonly found when mining precious

metals and precious gemstones used in jewelry making – for example, gold, silver, diamonds,

rubies, sapphires, and jade. Artisanal miners are not hired on by companies, but instead mine

their own minerals they find and rely on that revenue for a living. Adults and children are

commonly exploited for their labor and get very little money for their long hours of work.

Although exploiting child labor is most common in small scale mining, there are accounts of

violations in commercial and state-owned mines too (World Vision Action).

In addition, without the connection to a company, there are no safety regulations or

policies in place to protect the miners' livelihoods. One aspect of life that everyone should have

rights to is an education. Many child laborers who work in mines do not attend school because

they need to make money instead. Those who do go to school and work often have bad

attendance and low energy levels. In Ghana, “about 35 percent of child miners do not go to

school, while 32 percent do not attend regularly” (Eshun 1). Gaining an education is one of the

only ways to open doors for low income families to improve their status and livelihoods.

However for the children it is rarely their choice to give up school. A Human Rights Watch team

member met and interviewed a 15 year old boy named Peter, who worked at an artisanal small

scale gold mine in Ghana’s Ashanti region. Here is what he had to say: “I am here every day,

from 6am to 5 pm…I dropped out of school in 5th grade of primary school. I was unable to buy

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things for school…I wish I could have stayed in school” (Becker 4). Due to Peters lack of

income his only option to make any kind of future for himself was to work in the mines, a similar

story to thousands of other child laborers in the industry today. In addition to Ghana, children in

Tanzania are mining more and attending school less, the teachers in mining communities in

Tanzania are constantly reporting low attendance levels in their schools (Eshnu). These children

are not attending school because of a lack of policy implementation that is supposed to keep

them in school. In Ghana’s constitution everyone is declared a right to an education, although it

is not applied properly due to corruption, lack of motivation from political groups, and lack of

proper implementation (Right to Education Project). The policies in place to protect people rights

in Ghana need to be properly implemented. According to an analysis of mining accidents in

artisanal and small-scale gold mines in Ghana the years 2010 and 2011 were the most disastrous

years due to the high amount of fatalities recorded from ASM accidents. Eight recorded

accidents in two years contributed to 369 fatalities (Stemn 3.1) Even though policies and

regulations exist to protect the environment and people in Ghana they have obviously been

unsuccessful and have left their land and people vulnerable to exploitation. Improving the safety

of these mining sights would positively impact some of the over one million miners employed in

ASM in Gahan. Decreasing fatalities would decrease economic and social problems in the ASM

communities as well as increasing livelihood, decreasing the disruption of families, and slow the

rise in poverty levels.

Within large and small scale mining, the safety of the mines and the practices used can be

questionable to say the least. Many mine sites lack the proper safety equipment including hard

hats, face masks, and air ventilation systems (Chantiles 43). This makes miners more vulnerable

to injuries and infections. After repeating a motion or force for a long period of time miners can

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develop musculoskeletal disorders like carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis, and more (Chantiles

44). Due to the lack of ventilation systems and air masks, miners are at risk inhaling crystalline

silica dust which causes a long term occupational lung disease known as silicosis. In

underground mines, asphyxiation is common; miners go unconscious and can even die. Many

miners complain of constant headaches, blurry vision, and hearing problems from exposure to

excessive noise and vibration and poor lighting (World Vision Action). If miners were required

to have better safety equipment they would not suffer as much from adverse health effects of

mining.

Yet it is not just the lack of safety equipment and poor working conditions that put miners

at risk, but also dangerous mining practices like using explosives and harmful chemicals. In the

Jewelry Development Impact Index Study, researchers found that homemade explosives are

sometimes used in ruby mining in Myanmar (Chantiles, 44). Homemade explosives are

common,and when misused and placed near people can cause overpressure damage, resulting in

illness or death, fragmentation injuries caused by projectiles, and thermal injuries from high heat

and burns to the skin and lungs (Homeland Security). In gold mining mercury is used to extract

the gold from various gold-containing minerals, high exposure to mercury for humans can cause

nervous system attacks resulting in “neurological conditions leading to tremors, coordination

problems, vision impairment, headaches, memory loss and concentration problems'' (World

Vision Action). A few years working in a mine with poor working conditions and a miner could

be physically and mentally disabled for the rest of their life. Since the jewelry industry is what

sources are large amounts of gemstones and metals from large and small scale mining companies

they also bear the responsibility of ensuring proper working conditions for the miners.

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 Safety of the mining site and the dangers of everyday work are not the only human rights

violations that have gone down. Historically, miners, especially child laborers or miners in

conflict areas, have been paid extremely low wages to even no wages at all. The Human Rights

Watch estimates that at least 20,000 children work in gold mines, some of them not paid at all for

their work (Reyes). Due to the rural location of these mines, the unsteady government, and lack

of job opportunities these people have no choice but to work for such little pay in such horrible

conditions. Since the pay is so little, families are forced to have children start working at a young

age to bring in more income. Additionally, the children who work instead of going to school to

actually receive an education, have reduced opportunities to get themselves out of mining and

into a better job and life.

Jewelry Industry Negative Environmental Impacts:

Mining Processes

The jewelry industry relies on the mining industry for gems and minerals to make their

products. It wasn’t until lab made diamonds were invented that its reliance could be lessened.

Since mining is such an important aspect of the jewelry process it is important to look at both the

industries to see the entire picture. Additionally, in order to understand the impacts mining has

on the environment, it is important to understand the various mining processes. In diamond

mining the goal is to reach kimberlite within the earth's crust. Kimberlite is formed when magma

flows through deep fractures in the earth; kimberlite pipes are the source of naturally mined

diamonds (Oluleye). While diamonds are still naturally occurring around the world, there are no

naturally occurring processes that produce new gold. Diamond rings are commonly made with

gold and therefore the fact that they are both non-renewable resources in nature makes them

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more valuable. Scientists believe that all the gold on Earth was formed in the supernovae and

neutron star collisions that occurred before the solar system formed. During Earth's formation the

gold sank into the core and now is only accessible through mining (Fisher 2). Silver is a naturally

occurring mineral similar to diamonds; it is formed from sulfur compounds deep within the earth

that get heated up to between 200 and 400 degrees fahrenheit (Big History Project). Even though

diamond, gold, and silver all occur differently in nature they are mined very similarly. Often

using these four mining types: Open-pit mining, alluvial mining, underground mining, and

marine mining.

Open pit mining is the main way diamonds are extracted from kimberlite pipes, and one

the ways silver is mined. Layers of sand and rock are removed from just above the kimberlite

near the surface of the earth. Once the pit is created explosives are used to break up the ore

inside. The ore is then transported to another area where either machines or people extract the

diamonds or silver. One of the largest diamond mines in the world is an open pit mine that goes

450 million feet below the surface (Oluleye). Open pit mining is some of the most impactful

forms of mining on the environment just because of the large amount of land degradation.

Underground mining is used when ore bodies or kimberlite pipes lie a considerable

distance below the ground open pit mining would create too much waste. So underground

mining is used instead. The specific mining method selected will depend on the size, orientation,

and shape of the ore body or kimberlite pipe. Miners tunnel through and under the earth's crust

until they reach the ore or kimberlite pipes. Gold, silver, and diamonds are mined underground

and they are extracted through the tunnels or shafts. Underground mining is generally more

expensive than open pit mining and therefore is less common.

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 Alluvial mining takes place in riverbeds and beaches. After thousands of years of erosion

from water, wind and other weathering deposits of diamonds, gold and silver wash into

waterways and deposit themselves in the beaches and riverbeds. The very first diamonds that

were ever found were in South Africa from alluvial deposits (Oluleye). In modern day alluvial

mining water is gathered in an area using a wall and flooding the area. Most minerals are found

in the gravel layer underneath the layers of mud, clay, sand, and plants under the water. The

gravel must be collected either by hand or by a machine and brought to the surface. The gravel is

sifted through at the site and then transported to a screening facility to be fully processed. Once

the site has been fully mined the area is drained to leave a dry area like a river bed. Alluvial

mining is more environmentally and socially friendly than other forms of mining although open

pit mining provides larger economic benefits (Oluleye).

Marine mining extracts minerals from the seabed or ocean floor. Historically marine

mining was done by divers very close to the shore. The driver would collect gravel containing

gold, silver, or diamonds and bring it to the surface. Today with technological advancements

specialized ships collect minerals from the sea bed using extractors like vacuums through

flexible pipes and hoses (Oluleye). To collect diamonds ships have a large scale drill that

excavates the diamonds (Oluleye). Heightened technology has made it possible to mine deeper in

the ocean than ever before, although this may be an accomplishment it also means more land

under the ocean will be disrupted.

All of these mining processes come with different amounts and types of land degradation

leading to loss of ecosystems. Additionally since minerals are nonrenewable resources when one

mining site has been fully emptied to gems a new site must be found to continue the business,

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leading to a linear growth of land degradation over time. The world will run out of these precious

gems and minerals eventually and the land will pay the price of the destructive practices.

Impacts of Mining

The jewelry industry is reliant on the mining industry for sourcing minerals and

gemstones, this tie between industries can cause association between the jewelry industry and the

negative environmental impacts of the mining industry. Mining has always been a destructive

process, and as the industry grows, so does the damage to the Earth. The trade of mineral

commodities takes up a large amount of international markets and many countries rely on mining

economically. It has also played a role in the socio-economic development of many countries

(Oluleye). Mining is a necessary industry because it supports people's livelihoods.

Therefore the solution to the environmental issues is not to try and stop all mining

practices. Instead there needs to be a transition to more sustainable practice throughout the entire

industry to make the economic benefits continue without the negative environmental and social

impacts. Many diamond and mineral mines are located in tropical areas, with high species

diversity and environmental richness, which can be the driver of economic wealth but also the

cause of environmental exploitation (Galli). Overuse of land over time can impair the stability of

ecosystems. In addition, the physical processes in mining cause a variety of different

environmental impacts that puts the ecosystem at risk. The exploration, construction, operation,

and maintenance of mining operations is associated with deforestation, erosion, contamination,

the alteration of soil profiles, contamination of local streams and wetlands, and an increase in

noise and light pollution (Haddaway). These impacts are not confined to the region around the

mining site but can affect wider regions. The impact of diamond mining specifically can go far

beyond the mine site and affect surrounding infrastructure such as roads, railways, and resources

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as well as impairing the health and safety of the local communities (Oluleye). The destruction of

land requires expensive reclamation after the mine is closed and often does not bring the land

back to the state in which it was in before mining.

The impacts of individual mines can be seen as a small impact except for when you take

into account how many individual mines have existed throughout history. One way to visualize

the destruction of all of the mining operations that have existed is to view the amount of land that

mining has affected; “globally, mining takes up 57,277 km² of land, and hundreds of thousands

of these mining sites have become abandoned” (Lulavy 1). To extract one carat of diamond from

the earth 250 tons of earth must be shifted through, and for every nine grams of metal 20 tons of

earth is shifted through (DCA). After the earth is shifted through the diamonds must then be

separated from the host rocks they are embedded in. In order to do this miners use a water

intensive process using up to 480 liters of water per carat of diamond (Oluleye). This creates

large amounts of waste water that can contain harmful minerals from the mining process. During

the mining process kimberlite ore gets crushed and creates dust, this dust then gets trapped in the

wastewater as a suspended soil. This contaminated water is usually filtered out in settling dams

and then released back into the natural watershed. If the suspended solids are not successfully

filtered out it can cause water contamination across the entire watershed (Oluleye). Water

contamination affects people and animals downstream and if the pollution is long term could

completely deplete a water source from that region.

One country that has directly seen the implications of the mining industry on their

environment is Ghana. Similarly to other countries within sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana is full of

many precious gem and mineral deposits like gold, diamonds, bauxite, and manganese. Unlike

any other areas in western and eastern Africa Ghana has the largest gold deposits which added

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hundreds of millions of dollars to the gold market in the 1980’s (Tuokuu). Since they are such a

mineral rich country the socio-economic effects on the development of Ghana were extremely

positive. However, “in spite of the benefits of gold mining…in Ghana, a growing body of

evidence suggests that, gold mining over the years has contributed to pervasive degradation of

the environment. For instance, Gold mining has led to adverse impacts on indigenous lands,

water resources, quality of topsoil, and the loss of livelihoods in communities such as Prestea,

Bogoso, Wassa Akropong, Obuasi and Tarkwa ” (Tuokuu). One commonality all of these

countries hold is their lack of national wealth regardless of their rich land, making it even harder

to battle the environmental impacts mining has. Environmental degradation in Ghana due to

impacts from various industries, including mining, cost $6.3 billion dollars annually. In order to

decrease risks from air pollution alone it costs roughly $2 billion and nearly 16,000 people still

die each year from air pollution related causes (Srivastava). Additionally, in the mining

communities of Tarkwa and Obuasi air pollution is creating major health issues (Tuokuu). These

countries must start sustainably managing their mining industry or else their natural resources

could become unreliable and their workforces too unhealthy to work.

Policy and Regulations in Place Have Failed

Throughout history many policies and regulations have been placed in the jewelry and

mining industry to try to mitigate the negative environmental and social effects of these

industries. There have been regional, national, and international initiatives that have not

succeeded to successfully aid in these issues. Not because they don't exist but because they are

poorly implemented. Although there has been policy work within these industries that has made

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positive change, the negative environmental and social effects still exist today and should be

completely eradicated from these industries.An example of a country that has faced multiple

policy changes in response to ongoing environmental and social degradation is Ghana. In

response to the negative environmental problems there have been various interventions and

investments in policies such as, parliamentary acts and legislation, environmental impact

assessments, environmental guidelines, taxes such as reclamation bonds, and environmental

permitting standards like emission permits have been promulgated by governments to address

various environmental issues (Tuokuu). Despite all of these attempts to improve practices in

Ghana researcher Gavin Hison found that “none of these approaches introduced in Ghana's

mining sector to address environmental problems [have] been effectively implemented. This is

because the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since its inception in 1994 has been unable

to wield its regulatory power to ensure the safe protection of rivers, ecology, and communities

from resident mining activity” (Hilson, 70). The EPA was unable to properly implement their

policies or else they could have insured the protection of Ghana’s environment and communities.

The EPA has a program with sub-saharan Arfica which is focused on addressing problems which

impact people's health (EPA). This included the impacts of mining but obviously the EPA did not

live up to their word of making a positive impact. When it comes to miners' safety and health

when working, Ghana's government doesn’t even protect them. The constitution of Ghana has

given no provision to the right to a clean and healthy working environment for anyone (Niber,

38). The lack of a healthy work environment as well as the lack of other regulations regarding

safety of mining practices has resulted in high risk mining accidents becoming a commonality in

Ghana. According to an analysis of mining accidents in artisanal and small-scale gold mines in

Ghana the years 2010 and 2011 were the most disastrous years due to the high amount of

16
fatalities recorded from ASM accidents. Eight recorded accidents in two years contributed to 369

fatalities (Stemn 3.1) Even though policies and regulations exist to protect the environment and

people in Ghana they have obviously been unsuccessful and have left their land and people

vulnerable to exploitation. Improving the safety of these mining sights would positively impact

some of the over one million miners employed in ASM in Gahan. Decreasing fatalities would

decrease economic and social problems in the ASM communities as well as increasing

livelihood, decreasing the disruption of families, and slow the rise in poverty levels.

So why haven’t policies and regulations been successful? One challenge in environmental

and social policy is ineffective implementation of the policy. Author and researcher Francis

Tuokuu found that insufficient implementation of policies in Ghana amongst other reasons, is the

reason for the recurring social and environmental issues. Insufficient implementation is caused

by the lack of community participation in environmental decision making, insufficient

coordination among government institutions, inadequate personnel and logistics, and a lack of

political will to enforce environmental regulations (Tuokuu, 5.4). Ghana and other countries that

rely on extractive industries for economic development do not lack ‘good’ policies that could

create huge positive change but instead lack the capacity and support to implement them.

Consumers Care More Now Than Ever

The negative impacts one piece of jewelry can have in the process of the mining of the

gems and minerals alone is immense, and the devastating mining accidents have not gone

unnoticed by the press and social media. Historically, the customer market for any industry has

only had a small percentage of eco conscious consumers. Today, there are positive trends

towards eco-conscious consumerism. Consumers are more conscious that their consumption

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fosters organizational production, and therefore, are willing to take aggressive stances against

unethical organizational practices through boycotts, protests, and non-consumption (Schulte, 1).

Protests and non-consumption directly forces companies to make direct change within their

business or else risk losing their customer base. For example, the fine jewelry brand Pandora

started using lab-grown diamonds after a wave of criticism over working conditions and

environmental impacts of some of the mines they sourced from (Onita, 1). This shows that

customer awareness of these issues and their willingness to stand up against them does create

real positive change in the jewelry industry. For Pandora the switch does not impact their

revenue because lab diamonds can be made for a third of the cost as mined gems and sold for

just as much.

Consumers have started to value ethically sourced and environmentally conscious

production. With this, companies need to adopt these socially conscious practices to keep up

with the current trends. Additionally, in order for businesses to ensure competitiveness they need

to develop a sustainable model which includes management practices that ensure expansion,

innovation, and performance abroad (Palma 27). Sustainable business practice won’t just ensure

the attractiveness of the company could also help expand and advance the company in a positive

direction.

As our limited non renewable resources start to deplenish sustainability will be the necessary tool

to stretch the resources life span. Sustainable business practices ensure the longevity of a

company and its materials and resources, it can also increase profitability of the business.

Profitability Off of Sustainable and Socially Conscious Practices

As demands on organizations to adopt responsibility in regard to sustainability are

increasingly recurrent in the business environment, positive trends in sustainable management

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have emerged (Palma 27). More and more companies are converting from traditional business

strategies to sustainable business models based on economic, social and environmental

dimensions. However sustainability can be perceived as costly and timely which discourages

many companies from fully committing to sustainable business practices. Contrary to that it has

been found that the development of actions focused on environmental and social strategies can

leverage the economic growth of a company (Palma 27). This is because an openly transparent

and sustainable company will attract more customers, and develop a positive reputation for their

company. In addition, author Eliete Palma states that, “economic performance is influenced not

only at the environmental performance level but mainly by the type of environmental

management.” Depending on the type of environmental management, after implementation the

businesses could see high positive economic effects. Even though sustainability and

environmental management could be perceived as costly and timely, the revenue and benefits

long term are far more worth it, not to mention having the peace of mind that needless lives

aren’t being lost over a piece of jewelry.

One of the first sustainable developments for the jewelry industry that pushes companies

in a positive direction is the SCS-007 created by the SCS global services. “The SCS-007

Jewelry Sustainability Standard-sustainability rated diamonds, the first comprehensive,

multi-stakeholder sustainability standard developed for the diamond sector” (SCS). This

certification process can be applied to both natural and lab made diamonds and establishes

benchmarks for performance and transparency in sustainability and social responsibility. When

companies participate in the SCS-007 they gain the accreditation to put a certified sustainability

rated diamond ecolabel on their products and are able to market their products as sustainable in

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advertisements and webpages. This can open up a company to a new customer market focused

on sustainable goods which could mean more sales and increased customer interaction (SCS).

Since sustainability has started to emerge as a positive to business success and not a

negative, many companies have tried different approaches. One luxury sustainability group, The

Kering Group, realized there was a gap in sustainability in luxury brands and created The

Fashion Packt of 2019 (Lin, 2.1). With the French government's support, the group has united

more than 60 companies in 14 countries (Lin, 2.1). Some of these companies include Gucci,

Saint Laurent, Bottega Venta, Balenciaga, and Alexander McQueen (Lin, 2.1). The Kering Group

provided these companies with a common core of environmental objectives and created goals

and visions for the companies to adopt. These goals were a part of their holistic circular approach

to business development in which the group first challenged their companies to re-think the

resources they use in their jewelry and fashion products (Lin, 2.1). This is the first step in

reaching sustainability, looking at the very start of the supply chain and ensuring the raw

materials are ethically sourced, environmentally friendly, and as low impact as possible. The

Kering Group assists these companies in their sustainable development and holds them

accountable through their code of ethics which holds the highest expectations for the partners

regarding ethics, particularly in the terms of respecting human rights and environmental

protection (Kering). However the partner companies in The Kering Group can not be marked as

fully sustainable because they are not required to ensuring 100% sustainable materials with a net

zero carbon footprint. However, a company separate from The Kering Group is a star example in

the sustainability world; Tiffany and Co has 185 years of sustainable heritage and has the top

diamond and gold traceability in the industry (Tiffany & Co). On top of their product

sustainability and traceability they have given over $100 million in grants to nonprofits working

20
to preserve the world's most treasured seascapes and landscapes (Tiffany & Co). They have gone

above their own business model and resource sourcing to make a larger impact on the

environmental issues occurring globally today. I think all companies can strive to excel in

sustainability to the point where they look beyond themselves and at the bigger picture.

If jewelers want an alternative to mined gems, they can source lab grown gems and

diamonds. Scientists mimic the natural method of diamond formation using either chemical

vapor deposition or extreme pressure and heat processes applied to pure carbon over the course

of 6 to 10 weeks to produce a man made diamond (Butcher). Lab made diamonds are cheaper

than natural diamonds, and have decreased the price of diamond jewelry. Fair-mined minerals,

SCS certified diamonds, memberships with groups like the Kering Group, and lab made

diamonds are all great alternatives for companies to mitigate negative social and environmental

impacts from their business.

Part 4: Discussion and Conclusions

Increasing consumer awareness on the negative implications of the jewelry industry

concerning social and environmental impacts should be a strong initiative for businesses to

reflect on their current policies and practices. Businesses should not provide false advertisements

about their connection with sustainability or fair-mined gems, they should be required to have

certifications to prove the authenticity of their products' origins. However, businesses are not

required to seek out certified sources of materials and without required change across the entire

industry negative environmental and social impacts will precede. Businesses seek low production

costs in order to have higher revenue, however cutting production costs cuts the pay of the

protection workers. Cuts down the safety equipment present when mining. Cutting costs in

production can lead to higher revenue but at the mercy of someone's livelihood or safety.

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Ensuring products are made sustainable and socially consciously may cost more than outsourcing

to child laborers, but it comes without the guilt.

An increase in consumer awareness has created negative stigma against businesses who

are not socially and sustainably conscious, which in turn will push businesses to adopt better

practices. In addition, businesses who are sustainably and socially conscious can find higher

revenue than previously. Sustainable businesses have a better reputation within the industry

because they are more respected by customers due to their environmental and humanitarian

ethics. Practices that are environmentally and socially responsible are attractive to customers

which benefits businesses. Businesses in the jewelry industry need to adopt sustainable and

socially conscious practices in order to avoid being associated with environmental impacts,

human rights violations, and to keep up with consumer behaviors. Contrary to popular belief,

adopting sustainable and socially conscious practices can increase profitability within the jewelry

industry, and help to resolve unsustainable traditional mining practices.

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