1000 Flowers for the Planet - #161 Buy Ethically Sourced Diamonds

1000 Flowers for the Planet - #161 Buy Ethically Sourced Diamonds

When choosing your diamond engagement ring the last thing on your mind is “where did this come from?” Sadly there are many people in developing countries who are being exploited in order to mine diamonds for us to wear. They are paid minimal wages, sometimes not enough to feed their family, and work in unsafe and appalling conditions. This isn’t the picture we want in our head when buying our gorgeous new piece of jewellery.

We can make the choice to buy only ethically sourced diamonds to ensure those who have worked hard to mine them have been dealt with fairly and work in safe conditions. Ask the jeweller for certification and if they cannot provide it, go to a different jeweller. Unfortunately, there are people who are low enough to sell unethical diamonds because they can buy them at a much cheaper price from the undesirables who own and manage mines where the workers and the environment are of little or no concern. These same people may even stoop to telling you their diamonds are ethical, but be diligent when shopping and purchase from well respected jewellers. Here in Australia our Argyle diamond mine produces beautiful stones whilst providing good working conditions for the miners and considering the environment. Canada also has an ethical mine and my research has discovered Namibia and Botswana have small-scale mines we should support.

Only by refusing to buy the stones mined unethically can we force the dark side of this industry into doing the right thing – looking after their people and the planet.