If you dwell on the sustainability of gold when buying gold jewellery, you probably quickly think of unsustainable gold mines. But is that why all gold jewellery is unsustainable? Is there gold jewellery that is not bad for people and the environment? We found out how to find sustainable gold jewellery that you can buy with confidence.
What is not sustainable about gold jewellery?
Your new gold ring or bracelet may have been made from newly mined gold, which is very likely then, unfortunately, not sustainable gold. Here's the thing: most of the world's gold comes from gold mines. This gold mining is incredibly damaging to the planet: it has a harmful impact on the environment and human rights are regularly violated. Gold mining causes deforestation and water pollution, among other things. Moreover, the chemical waste resulting from mining is often dumped in nature. And did you know that leading researchers Ulrich, Trench & Hagemann have concluded that gold mines emit more greenhouse gases annually than all passenger flights in Europe combined?! For instance, gold does not exactly sound like a responsible choice of jewellery.
Gold mining is additionally responsible for 38% of the annual wereldwide mercury emissions, said Stephen Lezak, who researched the possibility of stopping gold mining. Also, gold mines consume a lot of water and gold mining often involves child labour and exploitation. All this makes new gold unsustainable, and so the gold jewellery you want to buy may not have been created responsibly. But no worries: there are ways to still buy that gold ring or bracelet and think about sustainability at the same time.
You can also buy gold jewellery more sustainably and, above all, fairly.
Does durable gold exist?
So clearly, newly mined gold is not sustainable, but fortunately there are sustainable alternatives to mining gold, such as recycled gold and fair gold. So thankfully, responsible and fair gold does exist!
Recycled gold
One sustainable option is to choose jewellery made from recycled gold. By 2022, some 25% of the global annual supply of gold was recycled gold, according to the World Gold Council. Recycling gold has much less impact on the environment than mining new gold. Recycling gold requires no mercury, and barely 1% of water and CO2 emissions from gold mined in mines. The working conditions of the makers are also much better. Some major jewellery brands, such as Pandora, have already pledged to use only recycled gold by 2025 and also to produce their jewellery as sustainably as possible in other ways. Want to make sure you buy sustainable gold jewellery now? Then you can check out Dutch jewellery brand GOLDD, which only sells jewellery made from recycled gold. But also many local goldsmiths, for example Harvest Jewellery, use recycled gold.
Where does recycled gold come from?
You can have your old gold jewellery melted down to make new jewellery. You can also sell your gold jewellery to a gold buyer or goldsmith. The gold will then be recycled into other jewellery or products. But don't forget your old mobile phones, laptops and other electronics! After all, these also contain gold, which unfortunately is hardly ever recycled. A shame, right? One jewellery brand trying to change this is NoWa. This brand makes sustainable jewellery from pure gold (and silver) extracted directly from recycled mobile phones. Two hundred phones contain enough gold for a ‘new’ gold ring. So it's good for the environment and for goldsmiths to hand in your old mobiles!
Want to buy or gift a beautiful piece of jewellery. Check where and how the gold was mined or go for a beautiful second-hand (or vintage!) masterpiece!
Fair gold
Not sustainable, but more responsible gold is fair gold, or honest gold. This is mined from responsible small-scale mining. Because this gold is mined in mines, it cannot be sustainable. But fair gold mines do pay more attention to people and the environment. Here, there are a number of labels for responsible gold you can look out for, such as the label of the non-profit organisation The Responsible Jewelry Council (RJC). RJC's standards have become the standards for fair gold. In the Netherlands, it is best to look out for the hallmark of Fairmined. Fairmined gold comes from small-scale mining and is made responsibly. The health and living conditions of workers and nature are taken into account. On the Fairmined site, you can find jewellers and goldsmiths in our country who work with Fairmined gold.
And there is another option for buying responsible gold: Fairtrade gold. Unfortunately, due to insufficient enthusiasm, FairTrade Netherlands no longer supports FairTrade certified gold in the Netherlands. In Switzerland, Great Britain and the US, however, FairTrade International does support the certification of jewellery. You can ask your jeweller whether they sell this jewellery.
Second-hand gold jewellery
Of course, you can also opt for a second-hand ring or necklace made of gold. You can often find a lot of beautiful gold jewellery at auction houses, among other places. But you can also find a lot of vintage jewellery online, for example at Jewellery shop.nl, at Menina Amsterdam or Jewellery Girl. So you can score a unique piece of gold jewellery with a story and an eye for the environment!
This is how to find sustainable gold jewellery
So do you want to buy gold jewellery that is responsibly produced? Then preferably go for recycled gold. If that is not possible, pay attention to labels like Fairmined, which guarantees sustainability and better working conditions. Finally, of course, it is most sustainable if you wear your jewellery for as long as possible. Therefore, always buy your gold necklace or bracelet consciously and for the longer term, and pay attention to quality. That way, from now on, there will only be sustainable gold jewellery in your jewellery box!
More sustainable tips from thegreenlist.nl
- Have you ever wondered this: Vegan leather: a sustainable and animal-friendly alternative?
- Sophie Stone: buy sustainable clothing with confidence.
- Cobalt: it's in every battery, but what do you know?
Sources: SRI.nl, imvoconventants.nl, dewereldmorgen.be, sciencedirect.com, happinez.nl, Solidaridad, World Gold Council. Photo credits: main image: Lum3n (Unsplash), gold earrings with book: Anastasia Anastasia (Unsplash), gold ring: Engin Akyurt (Pexels), hands with gold chain: Karolina Grabowska (Pexels), woman with gold chain: Mariam Antadze (Pexels).
