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Matt White

Rings Leader

Diamonds might be a girl's best friend, but they are Mother Nature's enemy. The harvesting of gem stones and mining for gold takes a huge toll on the environment, upsetting ecologies and releasing poisonous toxins into the air and water. Five years ago, Matt White found out the dirty truth behind the shiny industry, and decided there had to be a better way. He founded the jewelry company Green Karat, the first of its kind to produce gold and diamond jewelry in an environmentally and socially responsible way.—Jessica Lothstein

What was your inspiration to start Green Karat?

It was very personal, and out of need. My wife and I were going to get married and we started looking for wedding rings that we felt comfortable with from an environmental standpoint. But we couldn't find any. So we got married without rings, and then decided to start this company. That was in 2003 and we were the first ones to do it—to produce and sell jewelry in an environmentally and socially responsible way.

What challenges did you face?

I don't have a background in jewelry—I'm a CPA by trade—so it wasn't easy. I had to learn about the jewelry business, and then figure out how to source materials and institute more eco-friendly production practices. There wasn't a precedent for what we were doing. The first inquiries we made when we were looking for green materials were met with skepticism, and the response that 'no, we have no idea where our gold comes from, and we're not particularly interested in having this conversation with you' (because it is implying a criticism of the industry).

Why is diamond and gem mining bad for the environment?

Many gems, particularly in third world countries, are mined in riverbeds. Erosion and rain wash gems down the river, and it's an easy way to discover them. But in the process, the miners are digging up streambeds and dirt, releasing a lot of silt into the stream and disrupting the ecology in the surrounding areas.

I've heard that Canadian diamonds are eco-friendly. Is that true?

The Canadian diamond industry is fairly new, and they started out from the beginning talking about how environmentally aware and careful they were. It was a very clever PR strategy because people believed it, but it's not true. The diamonds tend be located underneath lakes, so they are removing entire lakes using blasting materials to break up the rocks. The nitrates from blasting materials create acid rock drainage, poisoning streams hundreds of kilometers downstream from these mines. On top of that, all of this mining is taking place in permafrost regions (mostly in the Northwest Territories). It's going to be a very long time before these areas recover.

But aren't they still better than blood diamonds in terms of social responsibility?

People feel more comfortable buying Canadian diamonds because they're not buying blood diamonds and funding civil wars, but there are social issues involved with diamond mining in Canada as well. They have not been respectful of the rights of the natives, and have usurped their land and resources. So while there may not be blood associated with Canadian diamonds, there are certainly tears.

Where do you get your diamonds?

Some of them we got from estate sales, but most are created in laboratories. They're made the same way Mother Nature does it, with a chemical soup of carbon, heat, and pressure. They are chemically, physically, and optically identical to natural stones. It takes six months to a year, and you can't tell them apart.

What are the environmental problems associated with gold mining?

The main problem with getting gold out of the ground is separating it from the surrounding ore. There are two methods of doing it. The first way involves cyanide, which is extremely poisonous and escapes into the waterways, and the second way involves mercury, which accumulates as vapors and poisons miners. It also escapes and bio-accumulates in our ecosystem and ends up in food we eat, like tuna fish. There's enough mercury in the world that we don't need to extract any more, ever.

So where do you get your gold?

From customers, through a program called My Karat. They send in their broken and unused jewelry, and have the option to either reuse the metal to make their desired rings, get store credit, or donate the value to the charitable organization of their choice. Post-consumer gold is the most important market because it's the most effective in creating change. Because gold is so valuable, no one throws it away, and so much is just sitting in dresser drawers. We estimate that there's enough gold on the planet already mined to serve the jewelry industry, which uses 85% of the gold consumed every year, for the next 50 years. We just have to get it back in circulation.

I recently heard that Tiffany's is using eco-friendly gold. Is that true?

They do have their own mine. They decided they want to control that process from start to finish. So they know what mine it comes from and that there is no environmental problem associated with it, but it's still mechanized, big scale mining underwritten by the government. It's certainly a start, and to get Tiffany's talking about it is certainly helpful to the movement.

Is there a certification process or industry standard for eco-jewelry?

No, not yet. Last year we met with representatives from some of the big jewelry companies (Tiffany's, WalMart, Zales) to talk about establishing a standard for recycled gold. We got the process started, but it's going to be a long time before it happens.

So if there's no standard certification, is there a lot of greenwashing going on?

Yes, it's a big problem. There are some companies who have statements on their website guaranteeing that the jewelry originates from socially and environmentally responsible sources, but if you look at the disclosure for the metals, they're not all recycled. It's typical of what we're seeing, because there's a rush to this market.

What does "green" mean to you?

I'm aware that everything I do has an impact on the earth and the people around me. Everything I do sends out waves of impact, and I'm always asking myself 'what kind of footprint am I leaving? And how I can minimize it?'

What is the most recent green habit that you have adopted in your own life?

Recycling. We have surprisingly great recycling facilities where we live (in Magnolia, Texas), and a tremendous amount of our waste can be recycled. At our recycling center, along with bins for paper and cardboard, there are seven different bins for plastic (one for each number). You can also take things that are functional that you no longer need, and it's like a free market, where people can come and can take what they need.

Is there a product or service that you wish were green but isn't?

Packing materials, like styrofoam. We get a lot of it in the mail, and I don't have a solution for it. There's a mailing shop that will accept it to reuse, but it's not a solution. It's only one more use and then it's going to end up in the dumpster.

When was the last time you experienced an eco-conflict?

When we built our home. We incorporated as many energy saving features as we could, but we eventually reached budget limitations.

Do you and your wife finally have rings?

Yes, finally! They're very simple bands, made out of ecologically mined gold from Columbia.

 

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