Green Wedding Experts Blog

Let’s be honest here.  What is the #1 most important, winner-takes-all, priority for you on your big day?

Looking fabulous, of course!!!

Everyone knows that the Bride alone will outshine all of the bridesmaids, colorful flowers and gorgeous evening wear combined!  Which means that next to finding the perfect gown, your mission critical is getting a set of stunning adornments to highlight your dress, personality and eco-lifestyle. 

So where should you begin?  How the heck do you find eco-friendly jewelry?  And, once you do that, how do you make sure it’s the right style for you and your wedding dress?  Let’s break it down…first the jewels, then your style

1. Fair Trade.  One of the most understated aspects of conscious consumerism is the concept of Fair Trade.  Sure, that’s great that Walmart is now carrying an organic clothing line.  But if the t-shirts are $5 a piece, someone in a sweatshop somewhere is getting a raw deal.  In your search for ethical jewelry, you must make it a priority to understand how the materials that were used in the jewelry came to be…or came to be put together.  Companies that are paying higher living wages want you to know about it.  Their pricing may be a bit higher (naturally, because they are paying people their true worth) and so they will make sure you know why.  If a company has no literature or content regarding their Fair Trade policies, they are likely getting their jewelry or materials from underpaid, overworked factory labor.  If it seems too cheap to be Fair Trade, it probably is.  It doesn’t matter how “green” the materials are if someone’s quality of life is being negatively affected by it.  The cost of this “dirty” jewelry cannot be measured in dollars and cents.
2. Green-washing.  Just because a jeweler uses the words natural, organic, recycled, handmade or green somewhere in the description of the product does not automatically make the entire piece environmentally sound.  Find out more.  A truly eco-friendly jeweler will tell you where each and every single component came from; not just stamp the “green” label on the jewelry because it has one single Fair Trade gem among dozens of other conventional not-so-green components.  What type of material is it?  Was it made according to Fair Trade standards?  Is every single component in that piece of jewelry green and/or socially responsible?
3. Recycled metals.  The jewelry should be made with as close to 100% recycled metals as possible.  Metal mining is the leading toxic polluter in the United States and one of the top reasons our drinking water has been contaminated with mercury and heavy metals in various areas throughout the country.  There is plenty of silver and gold already in circulation, including chains and findings, so we have no excuse not to reuse or recycle it.  Look for, or ask about, the recycled content of each individual component that goes into that piece of jewelry, particularly with handcrafted jewelry, which involves a lot of little pieces.  If the jeweler is truly doing their due diligence, you won’t have to ask...it will be listed in the product description on their website.  Also, be sure to investigate the recycled content of any chains used.  Silver and gold chain uses more metal than most other components that go into a piece of jewelry.  Even if the chains are the only thing about the jewelry that is recycled (or reclaimed), this is still a great start.
4. Natural, Untreated.  To reduce land and water pollution from toxic chemicals and radiation, choose a jeweler that uses all natural, untreated gemstones and pearls.  If they must be treated, such as in the case of freshwater black pearls, make sure they are done so organically.  Most semi-precious and precious gemstones are treated with a variety of potentially harmful methods, such as irradiation and chemical enhancement; so it’s nice to find untreated alternatives when you can.
5. Sustainable, organic materials, such as tagua nut, coconut shell or acai berry, are breathtaking works of art when properly carved and polished.  Use liberally.  These natural elements are fully renewable each year and support the emergence of green businesses by artisans internationally.  Again, make sure they are sourced under Fair Trade practices.
6. Vintage and Recycled.  Look for jewelry with recycled glass and vintage or second-hand materials.  Avoid pieces that use brand new crystal.  Swarovski and knock-offs do not release their manufacturing processes to the public and, thus, there is no way to determine how safe or unsafe the materials and their chemical treatments really are...but it’s likely that they are not very eco friendly.  The mass production of these beads may contribute to industrial pollution and because Swarovski and others do not have public sustainability statements as of this writing, how can we know what they are doing to minimize or offset the damage?  Instead, opt for designs that incorporate vintage and second-hand crystals and materials.  You can never go wrong with a chic new take on classic finds.
7. Green Business.  It isn’t enough that the materials are eco-friendly; the company’s practices should be too.  How are they greening their operations?  Are they an advocate to their industry and customers, offering education and programs for green living and environmental reform?  Do they offer recycling programs to their customers?  Do they give back to environmental NGOs and non-profits?  Look for jewelers that are a member of One Percent for the Planet, No Dirty Gold Pledge, Green America and other similar organizations.  You can seek out jewelers that will refashion your old fashion accessories and fine jewelry, allowing you to reuse your materials in new pieces.  You can also find jewelers that offset their carbon footprint.
8. Your Dress.  OK, now to YOU.  You’ve located some genuinely eco-friendly jewelry, now how do you pick the right style for you? The style and neckline of your dress will absolutely determine the structure of your jewelry.  Is your gown strapless?  Does it have beading in the bodice?  Is the neckline a halter, sweetheart, off the shoulder or other?  Follow these tips to match your gown with your accessories:

Beading - Avoid competing with any bodice beading or detail.  Plain pearls are a natural choice if your dress has a lot of artwork.  If your dress is over-active, you may want to skip the necklace and opt instead for a classic set of pearl studs and coordinating bracelet.

V Neck – V-drop, lariat, pendant.  Dangle earrings are a delicate touch.

Scoop – Don’t hold back…just about anything will go with this shape, especially the classic princess and choker.

Square – Stick with princess and choker necklaces.  Multiple strands will help tone down the angles.

Strapless Straight – Watch the length on this one, no more than 18”.  Multi-strand chokers are the sexiest pick for any bold, strapless classic.    This neckline gives you a lot of flexibility though.

Strapless Sweetheart – This heart-shape beauty offers quite a bit of flexibility, but if you really want to knock ‘em dead, opt for a Y-drop or pendant to draw maximum attention to your feminine neckline.

Halter – This one is a bit tricky.  Necklaces can sometimes pull away from the halter style, so be selective.  If the cut is low on the chest, go with a multi-strand princess or a pendant or Y-drop.  If the cut is high, skip the necklace and focus on a show-stopping bracelet instead.

Bateau or Jewel – Super long rope or opera length necklaces look fabulous with this neckline.  If you’re going for a chic, 1920s feel, opt for an extra long multi-strand pearl necklace.  If not, then skip the necklace and try some bold earrings or bracelets.

Queen Anne – You don’t want to compete with this stunning collar, so save the necklace.  A flattering set of Victorian-style earrings will take this look from high class to untouchable.

Asymmetrical – Don’t make your guests think.  A necklace will only confuse them.  Go with short, symmetrical earrings and a multi-strand pearl bracelet…or even two…to fully accessorize for a fashion-forward finish.  One bracelet on each wrist will balance you out from head to toe and take your complete look up a notch.

9.  Your Budget.  Every bride is on a budget of some kind.  Let’s first establish the benefits of investing in quality eco-friendly jewelry and then discuss your options for wallet-sensitive fashion.  Green jewelry has three main benefits:

• Good for the environment
• Good for people
• Lasts a lifetime  (unless its refashioned using old costume jewelry)

By choosing to invest in eco-friendly jewelry, you are a making a powerful statement about the importance of metals recycling, environmentally responsible mining and ethical labor practices.  Jewelers will never be motivated to reform if consumers don’t pressure them with their dollars. 

That said, let’s talk about quality.  If you invest in heirloom-quality bridal jewelry, you can wear the piece again and again and even pass it down to loved ones in the future; which means that it will pay for itself very quickly.  Keep this in mind when you are deciding whether to allocate that budget line of $200 toward your perfect eco-chic look or the cheap, plastic, land-filling favors Aunt Milly insists you buy. 

Regardless of your current budget, you do have options.  If your jeweler is in tune to your needs, they will offer you custom design, in which you can clearly state your requirements in style and taste, while also working directly with them to create a set that fits into your budget.  The fastest way to both your goals, eco-friendly and affordable, is open communication with the jeweler.  Let them know what you want and how much you can spend and they will tell you whether it can be done.  With Fair Trade practices, no green provider will ever be able to compete with big box, mass manufacturers who use penny-on-the-dollar overseas labor and turn that savings into rock-bottom product pricing.  However, they often have resources that a big box would never dream to use and could get pretty creative when putting your pieces together.  If you’re truly counting every penny, this is the best route to go.

If you still find that eco-friendly jewelry is out of your range at this time, consider your local resale shop.  You never know what unique finds may be lurking around the corner.

10.  Your Bridesmaids.  Don’t let all your green efforts go to the wayside when its time to shift focus to your sidekicks extraordinaire.  Whomever you’ve chosen to share the limelight with resides in your top tier VIP and they are shelling out a lot of time, effort and dough to make sure this is one of the greatest moments of your life.  One of the most touching ways you can show them a little love is with a close-to-your-heart gift that will last a lifetime.  Quality, eco-friendly jewelry will not only be a treasure they can enjoy for decades to come, it will also carry with it a sentiment about your values that they will never forget. 

As you might with your own jewelry, ask your jeweler about custom designed sets for your bridesmaids.  You may find that, on top of being able to work within a set budget, ordering multiple pieces affords you a bulk discount.  You never know until you ask.

Katherine DalPra is principal and lead designer for Green Diva, an eco-friendly jeweler using 100% recycled metals, sustainable elements, vintage materials and Fair Trade gems.  Green Diva specializes in custom bridal jewelry for your themed wedding: vintage, destination, cultural, classic, nature-inspired, custom and more.

Read more by Katherine DalPra: An Interview with the Green Diva

Until the last century, colored gems were the most popular choice for engagement rings. Today, many ethical brides want a sapphire, ruby or aquamarine not only for their astonishing beauty, but also for ethical reasons. Many people would rather support companies that work on more of a fair trade basis, and finding such a gemstone requires a little bit of background knowledge.     

Starry Night Engagement Ring Set with Sri Lanka Sapphire
Photo Courtesy of Reflective Images

What Is A Fair Trade Gem?

About 90% of the colored gems that appear in the jewelry case come from holdings from small miners, dug with a shovel and pick. What typically happens is that dealers purchase rough (unpolished gemstone still in its matrix) and sell the material to others, who export it to cutting centers around the world. It may then be sold to a wholesaler who presents the gem at a trade show, making it difficult to trace back to source when your retailer purchases it. For all but a very few in the jewelry sector, the primary consideration in all these transactions is to buy at the lowest possible price and sell at the highest price. 

The key issue with fair trade gemstones is assuring that that there is real economic benefit for the small community where the gem is mined. A fair trade gem would need to work within a set of principles and ground standards that assure ethical working conditions and environmental safeguards. This criteria would be monitored by an independent third party. Ideally, the local economy where the gem is mined would benefit from polishing operations. The entire supply chain would be completely traceable.

However, this ideal scenario does not exist. Instead, there is no third party monitoring and we have elements of the fair trade ideal in three different frameworks.

Current Fair Trade Gem Sources

The first source are co-ops or associations of artisan small scale miners (ASM). The challenge here is that small-scale miners are generally not organized into cohesive communities to sell product as “ethically sourced.” Often ASM are poor and do not have access to market or polishing operations. One example of a successful organized group is the Tanzania Women Miners Association (TAWOMA).  However, because they do not have representation in the US or EU, sourcing can be difficult. Jewelers are not at ease purchasing gems sight unseen, and international shipping can be expensive.

A second group offering fair trade gems is made up of companies that have created their own fair trade principles and standards. Columbia Gems has pioneered this process at a ruby deposit in Malawi, where they work with small-scale miners and provide schooling and many other benefits. Their cutting is done in China and supervised carefully. A second example of this type of company is Ruby Fair, which sources out of a remote village in Tanzania. 

The third option to find ethically sourced gems are individuals who contact the artisanal miners directly and develop relationships that benefit their people and villages based upon a fair trade ethos. They personally finance exploration and shepherd the rough to cut through a factory that they know is ethical. One person who does this, and whom I have known and have been buying from for almost twenty years, is Guy Clutterbuck.    

How To Find The Gems

If you want to find one of these ethically sourced gems, the easiest way is to search companies that are marketing themselves as fair, responsible and ethical in their engagement rings. View several websites to get a feel for what is going on. Once you find someone who makes claims, see what gems they are offering. Then, simply find out the story of how these gems are produced. 

Jewelers that are really working in the spirit of fair trade will be transparent about the source of their gems, from mine to market. They will tell you the companies that they are sourcing from. By buying a fair trade gem and supporting the efforts of these early pioneers, your purchase will symbolically embody the better world that you wish to see.   

Written By Marc Choyt, Co-Owner of Reflective Images

Marc Choyt co-owns Reflective Images with his wife, Helen Chanter. He publishes www.fairjewelry.org, the top rated site on google for fair trade jewelry consumer and trade issues. Before being the jewelry business, Marc was a high school teacher for Native Americans and was a volunteer director of an orphanage in Haiti. 

Outside of work, Marc loves wilderness backpacking, international travel, slow food, hunting and organic gardening.

Older Posts From Marc Choyt

Do Conflict Free Diamonds Even Exist?

In ancient times, diamonds came from India and Brahmans told Vedic tales of the god, Vela, stripped of flesh by demons. Vela's bones were then ground down, and spread out over the earth, where his fragments became diamonds.

This myth suggests that the diamond, the transformation of carbon under great pressure into a most refined, adamantine, sparkling essence, has a divine power that even today, seems to attract the best and worst in humanity.

A diamond set in a ring, presented by a man or woman to his or her beloved, is a physical representation of enduring commitment to fidelity and matrimony.  Yet diamonds also embody a massive split between personal values and the effects of our spending. 

Approximately four million Africans died during wars financed by the diamond trade in the 1990s. The very diamonteirs who  funded the paramilitary groups have never been held accountable for their part in this atrocity. Today, they will happily sell you a  Kimberly Process Certified (KPC) "conflict free diamond."

These KPC "conflict free diamonds" can be mined under terrible labor and environmental conditions, by diamonteirs who collaborate with corrup governments. The US Department of Labor recently reported that (conflict free) diamonds from Sierra Leone are being mined by forced child labor. Indeed, even polishers in India have been shot and killed for refusing to produce "conflict free" diamonds which are too often the products of humiliation and misery.

The claim of a "conflict free diamond" in the marketing of diamonds can be deceptive, and "conflict free" is a meaningless criteria for consumers who are looking for an ethically sourced product.

The Subtle Spin

Even jewelry companies with socially responsible values can spin diamond sourcing issues. You are a green bride and you want to do the right thing. Search "conflict free" online and you will come up with a number of websites that sell Canadian diamonds. It's true that there is no diamond war history in Canada, but the "conflict" of diamond mining typically only refers to the social costs and does not adequately (if at all) address the resulting environmental damage.

The infrastructure required to transport millions of gallons of petrol to run the machinery and generators in the arctic tundra creates massive disruption to the environment. Caribou herds in the North West Territory are in massive decline over the past five years. Diamond mining in Canada is part of a larger trend that is drastically impacting North America's last Serengeti.

The fact is that diamonds, like other natural resources, have social AND environmental costs, and it's important to know all the facts to make a decision. The critical question for a green bride to ask is not, "How can I purchase a conflict-free diamond?" but "How can I purchase, with my eyes wide open, a diamond that can create a better world?"

How To Shop Your Values

If you want an ethical diamond, ignore the notion of "conflict free." The critical issue is mine to market transparency. You need to know where the diamond was sourced and cut. You need to know who benefits, besides your retailer, from the purchase of your diamond. 

Ideally, we would have fair trade diamonds from small scale, artisanal mining communities. For a variety of complex reasons, however, the fair trade diamond does not yet exist. In the quest for an ethical diamond, perfection should not be the enemy of the good. You can still use your purchasing power to benefit producer communities while minimizing environmental impact.

Canada is still a good choice for your diamond. They have extremely careful, highly regulated mining practices. Indigenous communities have been compensated. Companies that source out of Canada also have clean cutting operations, as no one wants to tarnish the Canadian diamond brand. 

Secondarily, you can look for a diamond that's mined and cut in Africa. Over the past few years, cutting facilities have been implemented in Botswana and Namibia. The creation of these types of projects that create downstream economy is called, "beneficiation." The companies buy the diamonds sourced for these projects from DeBeers. 

I know that for some readers, the notion of buying a diamond from a DeBeers mine will not sit well. Over the past five years, however, they have become widely recognized for their well run, environmentally responsible mines, and Africa badly needs economic development. Since polishing in African countries is much more expensive than taking operations to India, companies like DeBeers that are now focused on beneficiation deserve support.

No matter what your choice, buying a diamond should be accompanied by the acknowledgement that everything in life has a cost. Perhaps what your diamond can represent - in addition to its symbolism around love, marriage and commitment - is a dedication to giving something back.

Written By Marc Choyt, Co-Owner of Reflective Images

Marc Choyt co-owns Reflective Images with his wife, Helen Chanter. He publishes www.fairjewelry.org, the top rated site on google for fair trade jewelry consumer and trade issues. Before being the jewelry business, Marc was a high school teacher for Native Americans and was a volunteer director of an orphanage in Haiti. 

Outside of work, Marc loves wilderness backpacking, international travel, slow food, hunting and organic gardening.